It's true, we have all finally made it to the long awaited 2022. As if the passing of a single calendar day, emphasized by the rolling of another tick that is a year in the 21st century could have any significance. Perhaps if one makes it significant then it holds some sort of weight, but I have chosen not too hold such things within my mind. Resolutions? Not for me.
I will continue to be the same person that I have always been. Will I get in better shape this year? I will certainly try after my long hiatus from the gym being the station commander. Will I be a nicer person? I certainly will try, but sometimes I will fail and go nuts on someone in traffic texting on their phone. Perhaps I will change my dieting habits this year and stop reaching for so many sweets? Unlikely. I will try to eat less processed foods/fast food and go for more meats, fruits and veggies. I have always like the idea of becoming a carnivore or sticking to the paleo diet, but it seems like a lot of work. Just today I find myself reaching for my usual sweets with a pretty bad craving for them. I made a mashed sweet potato instead. It filled my stomach but did little to suppress my craving for processed sugar... perhaps I will try the paleo diet this year. More to follow.
The point is, I don't feel like mentally committing to a gargantuan life change just because the new year rolled around. The new year means little to me other than the adjustment period when I continue to write the old year down on papers I sign instead of the new year. This will last a few days/weeks. If there are changes I want to make I will make them when I want, and I certainly won't hold myself to a goal of doing some thing or abstaining from some thing for an entire calendar year. With 24 hours in a day and 365 days in a year you are bound to fail and with a failure will come added stress and self-doubt, of which I have no time for. Instead I'll just start small and try to eat less cookies!
Something of some significance to me is that just before the new year started, I began drinking real, caffeinated coffee again. It is fairly significant to me because I quit all forms of caffeine and tobacco in November of 2011, which means that for 10 years I had no significant intentional use of caffeine. Every sleepless night followed by an early morning was fueled either by rage, hatred or a dull sense of duty to keep my job. Now I'm back on the horse and not really because I want/need the caffeine; I clearly operate fine without it. I just love coffee and Decaf really doesn't taste the same or come in nearly the same variety. Did the real coffee help fuel me during my last days as a station commander? Absolutely. I certainly was able to power through morning work super well. But the evening crash is a little much. I'm getting used to it though. I may quit the real coffee later this year, but then again, I may not. No pressure! Hope you, dear reader, have a great year as well, whatever year it may be!