In just a few short days, 2018 will be half over. Amazing. Yes, amazing, but true. Perhaps it is time to do a quick analysis of how the year is going so far. For if we have not yet accomplished or done what we wanted to do at the first of the year, we still have time to course correct. But not much time, only six more months. And we know how fast time flies, especially when fall comes and the holidays kick into high gear. So maybe with July and August bearing down on us, we can make some progress with changes we have said we want to make.

Sweet granddaughter Virginia who is now 6 years old, as of 6/27/18!

Think back to early January of 2018.  What New Year’s Resolutions did you make? How are you doing with them?  What many think of as New Year’s Resolutions I prefer to call commitments.   We all know how easy it is to make promises to ourselves, then within a couple of weeks, how easy it is to forget those.  If those promises are really commitments, that is often a different story. Just the word itself, commitment, sounds serious.

I will be the first to admit that I am not doing as well as I had planned in this area of commitments.  One area is weight and exercise. I still have these twenty-five extra pounds, although I pay my money to Weight Watchers faithfully. If I was as faithful about the eating plan as I am about paying my monthly fee, I would have already achieved success in this area!

A recent meal in NYC that was worth every WW point!

But I continue to pay, read my Weight Watchers magazine, and kid myself that I am serious about this.  Obviously, if I was really serious, I would have conquered this. But I take comfort in the fact that at least I am doing something, and that if I wasn’t paying the monthly fee and keeping this in front of me, I could have gained twenty-five more pounds!  Sounds like rationalization 101. But that is my story and I’m sticking to it! And I am going to work harder on this area in the last half of the year than I have done in the first half.

Regarding exercise, I am more successful lately with that than my eating plan.  I have been walking faithfully for a few weeks, ignoring my ailing hip and feet to do so. I am proud of this and plan to continue.  I even went to my podiatrist today to get help for the ailing feet.  I am serious about this.

Could this be the magic?

The reason I am achieving some success, albeit small, is that I am meeting regularly with a friend and we have committed to be each other’s accountability partner. We have written down our commitments to ourselves, review those with each other, and both of us are having some success. The last time I was successful in these same areas was when a friend and I were going through this together, and we kept each other motivated. I highly recommend this approach.

So, how is it going for you? Of course, you do not have to tell me, but do be honest with yourself.  Back in January, what promises did you make to yourself?  Are you proud of your progress, disappointed in yourself, or some of both? It is probably the latter for many. If you find yourself in that category, don’t be discouraged. Pick yourself up from the pity party on the sofa, dust yourself off, and get moving!

Get moving in the direction of your commitments.  For before we know it, it will be 2019!