Sitka or Bust: Commute The World

Going with tradition, a New Year’s Resolution must be made in order to actually step foot out of the past. Most people make them. Few complete them. Quitting smoking, losing weight, becoming a certified SCUBA diver, whatever. I don’t recall ever having made one. Committing to a year of one task is so boring and unrealistic. Why would I do a thousand sit ups before I can leave my bedroom in the morning? There is no force field. I know I can roll out of bed and lay on the carpet for a few minutes, potentially thinking of doing sit ups, but not actually doing any. Then I can get up, slowly and with a hand on my lower back like a decrepit old fart, and just leave. Done. Resolution broken.

We are never held accountable for our resolutions. Sure, I disappoint myself, but not nearly as much as that cheeseburger is delicious. Instant gratification. Unless a day of salad eating can briefly glimpse the abs I’ve been protecting under polar bear fat I am not gonna make it in any resolution. And telling people what you are doing is just a double-edged sword. Either they know and give you the scoffing and sarcastic, “Sure. Lose weight” without having any intention of ever seeing you in a bikini, or they believe in you more than they should. A few weeks down the road they’ll be like, “How’s the diet going?” And you’ll have to make up some lame excuse like, “Oh. Today’s my break-day,” as you rip into an entire  slab of barbecued ribs. It just doesn’t go over well.

Kudos to those who complete resolutions. I don’t take them on because I don’t want to be disappointed. But this year, I might as well commit to writing and posting a blog every four days. Structure is nice, and I can only imagine how many times my readers have tuned in only to find a post they’d already read, or to find a thousand posts that they have to catch up on. Sorry. With Naknek, I literally didn’t have internet so that was a long gap in the posting, but now I’m back in the civilized world and can post regularly. Hold me to it.

Dodgeball told me the greatest advice, “You’ve got to get angry. You’ve got to get mean.” And if you made a resolution this year, tell me about it. Comment. Be more interactive. Maybe I can hold you to your resolutions.