Do something new this year

Most of us head into a new year with a grand design to become a better version of ourselves.

If you’re like me, we’re one week in and already blowing it.

A low-carb diet simply can’t compete with dark chocolate surrounding melt-in-your-mouth marzipan. If I’m going to log 1,000 miles on my Runkeeper app this year, I’m operating at a deficit. And that swear jar? It will easily finance retirement.

Several years ago, I decided not to sweat it and aimed for being healthy and happy. I got rid of the bathroom scale and figured as long as I can button my jeans, I’m golden. If I eke out three miles through any movement – walk, jog or meander – it’s still movement. And I’m always looking for less offensive ways to express myself (shut the front door!).

Instead, I resolve to learn new things every year. These things might not become my new hobby, but these things make me appreciate the skill and creativity that go into them.

For example, one year I learned how to crochet. I made some pretty sad looking potholders and a scarf before retiring my hook. Because of this learning adventure, I’m impressed by the prolific people who create these detailed textiles.

Other years I took tap dancing and hoop dancing classes through community ed. Grace is not my middle name, but the girlfriends who went on these adventures with me had some great laughs and memories.

I have a 10-minute comedy routine about marriage I wrote that may not ever make it to an open mic, but it was fun to write.

A few years ago, I was introduced to the ukulele and have actually fallen in love with it. We now own four of them and have purchased some for the kids as well. This little instrument is a campfire and road trip must-have.

The hubs and I are now negotiating our learning adventures when the masks come off and our world opens again. I have agreed to let him teach me fly fishing if he takes ballroom dance lessons with me. We’ll both be wildly uncomfortable, but that is part of the fun.

If you’ve made the usual resolutions for 2021 about eating better, exercising more and finding balance, that’s awesome. Keep at it.

Think about adding “do something new” to the list. Whether you do something once or discover a new hobby, the act of learning something new is its own success, and you’re always better for trying.