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Least favorite New Year's Resolutions. February 9, 2012 ? nicoleandmaggie. This whole ?Get down to X books? or ?Have fewer books? minimalist thing. We don't get it. Sure, make room for more books, but for goodness sakes, if you're out of ...
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This whole ?Get down to X books? or ?Have fewer books? minimalist thing. We don?t get it. Sure, make room for more books, but for goodness sakes, if you?re out of bookshelf space, get another bookshelf! Get rid of some of your other crap to make room for it if you need to.
I wish other people would NOT come to the gym when they are sick and cough on the elliptical next to me for 20 minutes. I don?t care what resolution you made, STAY HOME! Also, get out of the swimming pool. There are only 3 lanes and one of them is for me. This is not your year for a triathlon.
I found this post on the Offbeat Home site and it really resonated with me: Don?t use January to beat yourself up. It features a photo of a ginormous salad, and also features the downside of new year?s resolutions.
I did get rid of books when I was moving. Have you looked at the cost to move heavy things? I also got rid of lots of furniture. My rule with books is that I could only get rid of ones I?d never bothered to read or that were totally easy to access at a public library.
I do like having books around. But, for me, there is a limit. If there are too many books, I actually feel paralyzed with choice about what I?ll read. I tend to have a section of my bookshelf (and my DVD shelf) allocated for ?books/DVDs I still need to read/watch.? This helps narrow down choice anxiety.
re: New Year?s resolutions, I do sometimes get testy in January when I see all the new people who show up at the gym. I go to a tiny gym, so it?s not too many folks, but they do keep it busy for a few weeks. By now, tho, only a few who will really keep their resolutions are still there. But I try not to complain, generally, because we are a November-April gym family (there?s no joining fee, so we let out membership lapse during the summers). I do agree with you about the pool and lap swim. Thankfully, folks are pretty good about sharing lanes with friends once more people come. I have to share a lane with my speedy husband, but I?d rather share with him than someone I don?t know.
Re: books ? Despite being a big reader, I have one bookshelf that I keep full and if I get new books I do sell/donate others to the used book store to free up room. I live in a small one bedroom apartment with easy access to a fantastic university library and a strong city library so I don?t see the appeal of owning too many books. I?m also a bit of a minimalist and not a big re-reader. I find it actually easier to maintain a small collection of books than of other things (clothes, kitchen gadgets, etc) because I have so many opportunities to borrow free books when needed.
I hear you on the swimming pool lanes. At my gym, it is rare that there are less than 3-4 people sharing a lane during the busier times, which are also the only times that work for me to swim. If I am training for something and trying to regulate my speed, it drives me nuts, but these days I am usually swimming for leisure so don?t really mind.
We love libraries too, but I need to have choices when I don?t want to go outside. Not having enough books at home makes me feel twitchy. Plus, having to go back to the library to return things is a big hassle for me. But when I do go, I always come home with tons of books.
We?re like you with the books. -Just can?t seem to let go of the majority of them. For one thing, I tend to read books many times. If I get rid of it, maybe I?ll need it again! And if my eye doesn?t fall on it?s lonely little self while I?m in the process of finding another book, I won?t be reminded that I need to read IT again? Yes, I?m having trouble switching to a digital world.
I too am waiting for the parking lot at my YMCA (my workout location) to empty out. When are all of the New Year?s resolution people going to run out of steam? Last year it had quieted down again already by early February. I guess not this year. I suppose I shouldn?t complain. People who make it over the hump of getting into shape are happier and keep our country?s heath care costs down. But it can be hard to get on my favorite elliptical machine!
It?s not a ?can?t seem to let go? it?s a ?why would you WANT to?? NY resolutions to get rid of them make it seem like owning books is somehow a bad thing. It isn?t.
I hate the ?Get Organized!? resolution that gets wrapped around a whole bunch of organizing stuff one is supposed to buy and use to organize one?s other stuff.
Honestly, in January I can?t manage to do much more than clear the decks from the holiday season. Serious reorganizing waits until term?s over and it doesn?t require buying a single damned thing.
I?m also with you on the wtf-ery of ?get rid of books? resolutions. I have a hard time letting go of books, I know. At least with all of my professional books, I can find room on the shelves in my office, still. If i squeeze a bit!
I have a hard time stopping breathing. That doesn?t mean I should resolve to breathe less. What a bizarre resolution. We could get rid of books, but WHY?
Books?? You made a resolution to give away books??? What?s next? Giving away your children? How about a resolution not to make inane resolutions in the future.
Although, truth to tell, I managed to get rid of a couple of books this year. The 1990 Frommer?s Guide to Venice seemed ripe for elimination, as did ?Born Beautiful?the African American Teenager?s Complete Beauty Book? from 2002?never mind that all my kids are white. At the time I got that book, it appeared I might be adopting an AA teen. So I did part with two books. But the 998 other books are staying on their shelves and away from your spurious resolutions!
Oops! I slightly misread your post to mean that YOU were giving away books. So disregard the parts of my message that were directed at YOU. I meant it for any other folks who could possibly think getting rid of books is a viable plan.
And we do pass books on, to each other, to DH?s relatives etc., but those movements are made based on the individual book, not based on ?must get down to 25 [shudder] books? or whatever. (I don?t tend to keep mystery novels, for example, unless they?re really good even after you know whodunnit, like most Elizabeth Peters.) There?s some level of goodness/re-readability that a book must have to be kept after it is read, but we?d love to have even more books that surpassed that level!
But I have gotten rid of books, even ones I?ve liked. I?m just out of room. Until we expand our house, there will be no more bookcases. Which is why I love my Kindle- I still buy some physical books, but a lot of books I?m perfectly happy just having in electronic form.
Back when I went to a gym, I hated January and February, for being way more crowded. My garage is equally empty at all times of the year, which is nice!
As for weight loss for normal weight people, I would say that a better resolution is to be more fit or to spend more time being active. I am definitely considered general under/normal weight and/or petite. I have no need to lose weight, but I could certainly do with spending more time being active, which is something that I?ve been working on over the last year.
There was a time in my life when I was perfectly happy to have every room lined with books. There?s a lot more in my life than reading now, though, and having s p a c e has become more important over time.
And I don?t need to keep every book I?ve ever read. I don?t buy a dozen books at a time anymore. Unless it?s a compilation for my Kindle. I still have books in every room of the house (except the bathrooms), they?re just no longer the only thing you see when you look around! ? The Kindle is well loaded, and there will always be another book. So yeah, I get rid of books. :-)
You don?t have books in your bathroom? Then what do you read when, um, things are taking longer than usual? Or is that a problem only us old folks have?
My least favorite part of New Year?s resolutions is that people forget that it is a resolution for the whole year ? not just for January.
re:books. My husband grew up in a house without books (except for Reader?s Digest condensed books) in a town with no public library. He vowed that is children would never live in a world like that. As a result, any book that enters our house can never leaves (unless it was borrowed). This makes us very selective about the books we actually buy (and makes me kind of cranky when a poor quality book enters the house as a gift).
re: books- fewer books?!!! FEWER BOOKS?!! Isn?t that the Wrong Direction? Like resolving to spend less time with your family, or to gain an arbitrary 150lbs?
re: weight- ?normal? weight in the US is not always ?healthy? weight. Maybe you mean people at healthy weights wanting to be lighter for, essentially, vanity? Seems to be a problem for a subset of people who set such goals who are ridiculously hard on themselves.
DH sneaks off and generally it takes a while to find him. I don?t know why the bathroom isn?t the first place we look? Generally he keeps the lights off in the master bedroom so that probably throws off the trail.
I would like to go to the libary more ? but sometimes buying a book online is just so much easier than going to the library. I even pay for a B&N membership because it save me $$$ in the long run.
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