2011 is the year of the rule of three.

I can't let a New Year's pass without writing a little about what I have to look forward to in the coming year. So here's my requisite New Year's post, and I want to direct your attention to the title. 2011 is the year of the rule of three. I've been blogging intermittently with my "three things" theme, and I recently had a discussion about focusing on three things and only three things in order to make one's life more manageable (a variation on the "jack of all trades, master of none" idea). I follow the time-management three things rule, too. So, in an effort to live a consistent life, I've decided to carry over my rule of three to the new year, and instead of making resolutions or declarations on this New Year's Day I'll simply talk about the three golden rules I will strive to follow this year.

Rule 1: Practice a commitment to physical and mental health.
This rule is something I try to do each and every day, but, as with lots of things, sometimes I fall off the wagon. And I've accepted that I'm going to fall off the wagon. And, I'll admit, sometimes I even plan in advance to fall off the wagon if I know a special day or event is coming up, such as last night when Doug and I had Five Guys for our New Year's Eve dinner. Classy, right? But the point is that even with these little deviations from my first golden rule my ultimate goal is to stay healthy. Eat well and get plenty of physical exercise. Not necessarily hours at the gym, but just an active lifestyle. Walking, biking, hiking, yoga, the gym... all of that. Because all of that helps me stay calm and balanced, alert and able to focus. And able to be on the path to follow my other two golden rules for 2011, the second of which is:

Rule 2: Live my values. Do I sound like Real Simple or Self yet? Bear with me if I sound a little new age-y. This rule has much to do with me having confidence in myself, in what I believe, in what I want, in what I know, in what makes me comfortable, in what makes me happy and content, and in doing it. If I think it's important to spend more time with my family, or to remain connected to friends, then I'm going to do it. If I think that sitting on my couch and quilting my way into the New Year is a viable activity for a thirty-one (good god, almost thirty-two!) year-old woman, then I'm going to do it. Because I want to, because I can, and because it's okay for me to live how I want to live.

All of this brings me to my third and final golden rule for the year, which is my Rule 3: Less thinking, more doing. The more I sit and think about being healthy and active, the less I'm actually out there being healthy and active. The more I sit and wonder what my values actually are, and if they are actually viable and realistic and accepted/acceptable values, the less I'm actually living them, or even knowing what they are. So... less of that. Less of that stuck in my head and more of going out there and doing. Like this morning, when I woke up on this fine and relatively warm first day of the new year and told Doug that I wanted to stop off at Minute Man State Park to walk on one of the trails there on our way back from selling a couple of his speakers to this guy Doug met on Craigslist. I could have (and probably would have) debated this idea with myself in my head before asking Doug what he thought we should do, because I would have been concerned about having enough time to do all the things that I wanted to do that day, but instead of all of that headgame I just said, "Let's do it." So we did it. And I felt good because I was practicing rules number one and two - and rule number three. I started the new year off on the right foot. And spent some time with Doug, who got to practice rule number three with me today. I think I might get him to practice my rules this year, too. Or might get him to make three rules of his own. Or, more appropriately, might inspire him to make three rules of his own. Because 2011 will be a year of good things, just as 2010 was, and being able to inspire each other to live these lives that we know will lead to good things will just lead to more good things.

Okay, I've gotten a bit too John Tesh-y for my own liking. Time for dinner, for more Netflix, and for more quilting. Time for living my three rules. I could really get used to this, and I hope I do.