New Year

It's the only New Year's resolution that I've ever kept: more than 25 years ago, I resolved to never again make a New Year's resolution.

In January of 2020, I decided to participate in Dry January, where I would refrain from consuming alcohol for that month. It wasn't a resolution to reduce my alcohol consumption, which is not a problem. I simply wanted to take a break from it. In doing so, I managed to find some really good alcohol-free beer, so it was a win-win situation.

But my month-long abstinence from alcohol wasn't a resolution. And, as 2020 turned into the nightmare from which we still haven't quite awaken, my alcohol consumption actually increased as I began ordering my beer online and having it delivered to my doorstep. (Hey, I was making an effort to support the breweries and keep them afloat!)

I've been considering whether I should try Dry January, once again, this year, but I've been on the fence. On one hand, I've already done it. I have nothing to prove and I don't think I want to make it a ritual. I'll still look for alcohol-free beer and may review anything that I find worthy. But so far (by the time I've written this post, anyway), I haven't consumed any alcohol. I just haven't felt the desire, and two migraines in the first two days of the year have not helped.

While I haven't declared a resolution in decades, I still look at the new year as a time when I can make some changes which are, hopefully, for the better. Over the Christmas holidays, in which I traditionally eat more food, particularly foods that are bad for me, and I notice that my waistline seems to increase (or, more accurately, the belly above my waist expands—I haven't changed the waist size of my pants in more than a decade).

Beginning on December 30, DW and I have both decided that we would become active for at least 20 minutes a day. We had actually started doing this at the start of the pandemic lockdown, where we would go for walks every day. For me, though, as the summer dragged on and into fall, I didn't go out every day. Sometimes, weeks would go by where I wasn't active at all, and I could feel my health suffering.

DW, breaking in her new snowshoes.

Since the end of December, we've gotten out for photo walks, for walks through places like the Arboretum and the Fletcher Wildlife Gardens. With the recent snowfall, I've shovelled the driveway and we've broken out our new snowshoes. DW has waxed up her cross-country skis and hit the trails. I've spent time on our spin bike, which had been gathering dust in the corner of our bedroom.

It's not a resolution to become fit; rather, it was a conscious decision to become active again. It's returning to a norm that was all but forgotten. It was easy for me, during the pandemic, to hide away inside the house. But it seems that the tide may be slowly turning on COVID, and I want to return to the active person that I was.

When the snow is gone and the weather is warmer, I want to be able to jump on my bike or hop in my kayak. I want to be able to strap my camera bag on my back and go anywhere. And I don't want the winter to be filled with the inactivity that would make those activities harder.

It's not a resolution: it's a revival.