I have to say I have never enjoyed New Years. Birthdays are fun, until you are 21 and then they kind of all go down hill, but New Years I’m not sure is enjoyable at any age. The only two I have ever enjoyed was when I was abroad in China, and the other in London. With those though, I think the enjoyment was more to do with the trip, and less to do with the holiday. I would nominate New Years as the crappiest of all holidays; if you object please sound off with your own nominations in the comments below.

I do not really like coming up with New Year’s resolutions, because they normally feel like a list of things you know you will most likely not accomplish. So instead, I’m going to write a list of things that I would ideally accomplish in 2020, beginning with the realistic, and slowly tumbling into the more insane dream-type goals.

• Start blogging again. Since I am blogging right now this one seems realistic. I really enjoyed beginning this blog last year, and was having fun before my trip, the holidays, work confusion, Buffalo Bills fan disease, and being on and off sick distracted me.
• Running. I’m hoping to run another marathon in the spring. A lot of what I mentioned above has also made consistently running more difficult. However, typically when I get in the groove with one good habit, the others follow. So in my mind, blogging and running kind of go together.
• Decide whether to remain in DC. For career reasons I am still in DC, but I increasingly feel like that is the only reason I am still here. In 2020, I hope to decide whether to stay or leave, and be at peace with whatever choice I make.
• Finish the scuba diving certification. This feels like something left undone from 2019. I would like to cross this off the bucket list once and for all.
• Go on the Mediterranean diet. Personally, I am not a diet person, and I already see some events in the future that would make this difficult to follow, but this seems more like a lifestyle change. I think just trying to eat a more plant-based diet would help with the running goals I have for the year.
• Do more yoga. I have done quite a bit of yoga, and do not expect to ever go too far with it. However, I find it a healthy change of pace sometimes, and do not want to fully abandon practicing.
• Learn to whittle. In my ideal world I see myself sitting on a porch whittling with a knife, and shouting at anyone that makes too much noise while I am honing my craft. If this happens in 2020, I will without a doubt consider this year a success.
• Get better at golf. This seems more impossible than whittling. I always try to go into golf with the right mindset, but come away wanting to snap my clubs in half. Hopefully with some meditation and practice I can improve; not get good, just improve.

That’s everything I could think of. Hopefully I can get at least some of these checked off going into 2021. Feel free to share your own ambitions, whether realistic or not, in the comments below. Happy New Year! Happy 2020!