New Year's Resolutions

I tend not to make New Year's Resolutions as I believe if you want to make a change in your life, there is no time like the present. Having said that - and having assessed where I am in my life - I accept there are a couple of things I would like to change in 2012.

1) My weight

This has crept up by half a stone, year-on-year, for the last decade. While 92kg is not particularly obese, the way my body places all my fat on my belly is intensely annoying, not to mention that this is the worst place to store excess weight regarding health. My diet is reasonably good and I do about an hour of walking a day so all I need to do is reduce food portions, reduce drinking and increase the intensity of my exercising. Joining a gym is paramount but provided I can stick to a regime and not get discouraged after a fortnight due to one evening of indulgence, I should be fine. But I do need to crack it this time.

2) My cynicism

As the more astute of you may have noticed, I am not particularly enamoured with Britain right now. I make no secret of the fact that I want to leave and have already started making plans to this end. In the meantime, I am going to have to accept this country for what it is and not get down about the relentless negativity in the media and by the fact I seem to be swimming against the tide of public consensus on most issues. If I let the bad news simply wash over me rather than drown me, it will make for a relaxed and more bouncy puppy.

3) My networking

I admit my social life has taken a back seat over the last two years, partly due to my career. In times of economic toughness, this is a natural state of affairs. I was far more socialable in 2011 than 2010 though and hope to continue this upward trajectory in 2012. Intrinsic to this is to get back on IMs and social networks again. The problem is my job often sees me sat in front of a computer fielding queries and calls on Skype and Yahoo Messanger so this is the last thing I want to do when I get home. I must get out of that mindset.

4) My writing

As a journalist, my job involves being sat in front of a computer writing things. Therefore, this is the last thing I want to do in my spare time. Consequently, I haven't written anything creative since September 2010. I hope to rectify this next year although my confidence in my writing is so low, I doubt whether I will be able to muster the energy, let alone the time, to commit a story to paper. Here's hoping but this is the lowest of my four priorities.

So there you go, my four point plan to a happy Lupe. Hopefully I'll stick by it this time.

Remembering The Year

It's hard to complain about 2011 and I will be sorry to see it go. I have had a good year but accept it hasn't been great for many.

Professionally, things have gone very well and it's good to see my sacrifices paying off. I have had two promotions, work for a great company and I even found a job for a good friend. I am looking forward to the challenges the new year will bring and hope to develop my career in the direction I wish.

Socially, I have understood the importance of real friends over crowds of acquaintances. I am now spending more time with close friends and less time with the Fandom in general. I imagine 2012 will see me drift further away, going to fewer meets and cons, and spending more time with my nearest and dearest.

Emotionally, this year has been tough, with anger being the default feeling. My relationship is improving after a rocky 2010 and we both hope to push things further next year. However the political situation in this country, not to mention popular consensus and prevailing attitudes, have really got me down. 2011 proved to me that Britain is not where I want to live and I am making plans in the mid to long term to leave. I doubt 2012 will deliver this as I have to deal with many other life factors, but I am hoping this change will happen soon.

Healthily, things have been not too great. Stress and anger has contributed to my poor mental health which now sees me in a similar emotional state to where I was in 2000. My weight has fluctuated but I end the year rounder than I was at the start. I need to make a concerted effort to fight the flab as this will undoubtedly improve my mood. Wolfie and I are going to support each other in this endeavour from 2 January. My muscle spasms necessitated a trip to the doctors but thankfully the whole thing is benign.

Furrily, as I mentioned before, I am moving away from the Fandom and embracing my close friends with whom I share common interests. Mongrels and Modern Warfare 3 taught me, through the medium of twitter, that I will never fully fit in. The inevitable howls of derision over next year's European Football Championships and Olympics will seal this I fear. I have lost confidence around furs and am now scared to go to social gatherings. I will still travel to meet furs, both home and abroad if possible, but now it will be individual or small meets rather than larger gatherings. Still at least I got into MLP this December. EF was its usual week of fun and it was great to go to Frantic Eufuria too. Paws For Cause is a one-man band these days. It's going well but sad to see it hasn't really taken off.

So there you go, my self-indulgent take on the year. I'd like to thank all friends, old and new, for being there for me this year and may I wish you all a fantastically fuzzy and furry 2012.

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