NEW YEAR RESOLUTION~I resolve: To Figure Out the Rest of My Life

Let me start by saying, I HATE NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS! The most well-meaning of my goals and aspirations usually fall by the wayside sometime around January 23rd. The New Year brings out the best intentions of most people, but without passion as a mindset, it's easy to let the resolution fade and die.

Last year, I pledged to hop on my elliptical machine for a mere 20 minutes a day. That's about all the time I have to spare in my busy day. I'm sorry, but I simply cannot give up gourmet food and fine wine, and there had to be some way to shed a few pounds. Things were going well for the first few weeks. I would come home twenty minutes early just to make sure there would be no wiggle-worming out of my resolution.

At the end of January, my friend in Huntsville, Alabama, invited me to her home for a visit. Alabama is balmy compared to Michigan, and she walks her neighborhood every morning, so I was still getting a work out while I was there. Then I returned home, and we were blessed by the rest of a normal Michigan winter. My resolve quickly disappeared, as I spent more time shovelling snow and trying to navigate snowbound streets. Simple chores, like shopping for food, were major endeavors, which required thoughtful planning. By the end of the day, I was tired and frustrated. There went that resolution!

I did much better with my New Year resolution the year before. That's the year I took up the violin. After two years, I'm proud to say that I'm still at it! That's not to say I've reached my goal; playing an instrument requires many arduous steps and many, many small achievements, as well as setbacks. I'll never attain the ultimate objective on this one, but it's unquestionably the journey which tells the tale.

Now that I have rounded the corner of the Big 5-0, I'm thinking RESOLUTION in much loftier terms. This was the first year of the rest of my life! Now is the time to get serious. One child is in college, and the other one is poised to finish high school. The business climate in this state is terrible, and it looks like that early retirement I've been dreaming about is no longer in the cards, unless I get a lucky lottery ticket. Looks like I'll be working for a long, long time.  I told my husband, we need a Plan B.

So, this is my New Year Resolution for 2007: Find something else to do for livelihood for the rest of my life. I've narrowed it down to these few career moves, both of which I already enjoy:

1. Internet or web-based design. I've spent the last ten years or so designing year books, catalogs, etc. These days, anyone can design anything if they have a computer. The beauty of web-design is that no one has to know what I look like, so they won't know I'm 50+. This path requires schooling, and as most people who know me know, I'm no computer geek. It would be tough, but I could do it.

or

2. Culinary school. I'm not a bad cook, if I do say so myself, and I absolutely love food. I've researched this field a little, and there doesn't seem to be the age discrimination in the restaurant biz like you would see in corporate America. The problem is that the local schools aren't that great. Le Cordon Bleu carries better name recognition, but is very pricey and the nearest one is in Chicago.

In the meantime, I may come up with something else. I will definitely come up with something else! That is my resolution.