Resolutions: Finding joy

I've been thinking over the past week about the holidays. And life.

Life was pretty stressful prior to the holidays. I know what you're thinking: "Didn't you just go on holidays to wonderfully warm resort island?"

Why yes, we did. And it was lovely. And I did relax quite a bit. But I got back to work for a week and it was all undone for me. I scrambled to see everyone I could for the holidays and get shopping done and baking. Not that those things are tough things to do, but they took time -- time which was in short supply and meant that I had a deficit of time for myself.

The holidays, thankfully, supplied that. Time to myself. But also time with family. Time to pretty much do nothing. And it's a good thing, too, because that luxury won't be afforded to me again for a very long time. Why? check out my list of "things to do this year" :

1. Plan a wedding. Get married.
   I thought this would be fun and easy because we're agreed that it will be small and not formal or traditional. Turns out everyone has an opinion (as I was warned) and "small, informal and untraditional" means different things to different people. It resulted in a few tears and some need to stop talking, regroup and make lots of compromises. Still no decisions, but we're well on our way to some options. The best part so far has been trying on dresses even though most of them are terrible.
2. Renovate the second floor of my house.
   You might have seen the pictures, or read the posts about the renovation of my first floor. I'm still working on it, in fact, over a year later, but it's getting there. I've got to make architectural plans because I think this might be a floor-plan-changing endeavour. I've got to put together inspiration photos from my home decor magazines and I've got to get a contractor on the job who doesn't suck. Oh, and don't forget the budget, which will likely quadrupal the budget of the wedding.
3. Be more active.
   I've lately become dissatisfied with my shape. It's not that I'm necessarily bigger than I was. But definitely less toned. My back hurts when I even just sit there, doing nothing, never mind when I undertake heavy lifting. My core stabilizers needs strengthening. My cardio needs some work. But I'm wondering how to fit this in, what with all the other stuff that I'm doing. My idea is to try to fit it in with social time and everyday transportation.

I had some other ideas this New Year's. Like, cook more. Which has benefits for my pocketbook and likely my waistline as well, which feeds into other items on my list. And figure out how to reduce my house's impact on my allergies. Which should help me sleep and make me feel more energized, helping me feel like being active. And partly feeds into the house renovation (as well as cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning).

But everything requires planning. And I'm my planning muscles are a little overworked. I'm taking it in bite-sized chunks, but it's starting to feel a bit like I never get time off. I'm always working. It makes Cathy a grump.

So, do I need yet another resolution? To take more time off? To have more fun. To calm the F down? It begs the question: how do achievers fit enjoyment into their life? I suppose it means a change in the way you think about things: find ways to enjoy cleaning, cooking, planning, being active, and all the rest of it.

Perhaps that is the final resolution: Find joy in the everyday.