11 For 2011

Excuse me for being MIA this weekend. My darling mother came to visit and we spent our days shopping, movie watching, and getting mani/pedis. No complaints here, but it is officially time to play catch up!

Anywho, the #reverb10 prompt from yesterday:

December 11 – 11 Things
What are 11 things your life doesn’t need in 2011? How will you go about eliminating them? How will getting rid of these 11 things change your life?

Eek! 11 is a lot of things to get rid of! Let's see...

1. Junk food- How will I eliminate it? Self control. How will it change my life? See number 10 (hopefully).

2. Family drama- How will I eliminate it? Ignoring stupidity and putting distance between myself and the particular family members who are exceptionally... special. How will it change my life? By creating less of numbers 3 and 8.

3. Anxiety- How will I eliminate it? Therapy, deep breathing, taking things one step at a time, and telling myself that most things aren't worth having a panic attack over. How will it change my life? Hopefully it will make me a calmer, more flexible, "roll with the punches" kind of person. As it stands now, I just lose my shit over things that don't go according to my plan.

4. Stuff- How will I eliminate it? By practicing self control and reminding ourselves that experiences are more valuable than that fancy new TV. How will it change my life? Mike and I really want to travel this up-coming year, but our penchant for nice furniture, fancy electronics, and big screen TVs always seem to throw a wrench into our travel plans. This year, we're going to try our best to put "stuff" on hold in order to see the world (or just more of the country, for now).

5. Clutter- How will I eliminate it? Throwing away or donating things we don't use and not buying new things that we really don't need. How will it change my life? A cluttered house equals a cluttered mind, of which I do not need. Also, see number 3. (sidenote: don't worry, our apartment isn't nearly that bad!)

6. Time wasters- How will I eliminate it? By forcing myself to do homework/run errands before I allow myself to play on facebook/twitter/game du jour. How will it change my life? I will feel less overwhelmed. I constantly feel like I don't have enough time in the day, yet I can find time to squander away hours on the internet.

7. Procrastination- How will I eliminate it? A large part will be eliminating number 6. Also, training myself to start on homework assignments the day they are assigned. Even if I don't finish them the same day, at least they're started. How will it change my life? For one, I won't have to stress myself out writing a 4 page essay the morning that it's due. True story.

8. Negativity-How will I eliminate it? By trying to find the positive in people and situations. Forcing myself to smile even when I don't feel like it. And talking less shit when is see/hear annoying people. How will it change my life? I will feel more carefree and less focused on other people's short-comings. I will see things as more "glass half full" than "nice job spilling that glass, idiot."

9. Debt. How will I eliminate it? Budgeting and actually sticking to it. How will it change my life? Although we don't have much debt to begin with, I'd still like to get it all paid off this year. It will be one less thing to have to think about.

10. Fifteen more pounds- How will I eliminate it? Self restraint. Finding an exercise that I actually enjoy. Doing it slow and steady, the right way. How will it change my life? I've been known to crash-diet with the best of them. Finally, this year I decided to do it the right way and thus far I've lost 25 pounds and kept it off. I just have to continue working at it throughout and new year and hopefully I'll be able to shed an additional 15.

11. Another pet- For every year that Mike and I have been together, we've gotten a new dog. Year one was Sophie, year two was Spade, and year three was Scout. Now that we're approaching our fourth year together, we'll have to celebrate it in a new way. I've only got so much love (and money!) to spread around!

What would you like to eliminate in 2011?

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11