GREAT resolutions for February

I’m really glad I made a resolutions “worksheet” to refer to for 2016. It makes it a lot easier to come up with resolution ideas—and of course the intention is that they ultimately will be taking me somewhere, rather than just being a bunch of stuff that sounded good at 9 p.m. on the last day of the month. Anyway, here are my carefully curated resolutions for February:

• Goal: Memorize Ephesians 4. I was going to start with the first book of John and go on from there, but I decided it might be more fun to cherry-pick a bit. Anyway, memorizing John would take a huge commitment, and I don’t think the circumstances are right.
• Rule: Meditate for three to five minutes per day. Even though I did not at all enjoy meditation last month, I’m convinced that it will eventually be beneficial to everything else I want to do. This month I’m going to focus on doing it DAILY, and there should be no excuse for not being able to find three minutes.
• Exercise: Reintroduce myself to the squat. I have already been taking some baby steps into weight lifting, in that every time I go to the gym to walk, I also hop onto a couple of machines and do some easy lifting. This month I want to focus on the squat, perfect my form, and get a lot stronger in it.
• Affirmation: “I take great care of myself by practicing moderation.” There are all kinds of “events” this month—a Super Bowl party, a trip out of town, and my birthday, for starters—where I’m most definitely not going to be eating in a way that helps me lose fat. But I want to be sensible rather than using it as an excuse to down a quart of ice cream as if it’s the last time I’ll ever see sugar. And when the event is over, I want to go right back to healthy eating the next day. 
• Task: Install a shelf in my closet. “Install” might be too strong a word. All I need to do is buy a shelf of the right size, paint it white if necessary, and set it on the existing shelf bracket.