I Guess I'd Rather Hurt Than Feel Nothing At All

Recap of 2010 Resolutions:

• Watch every episode of Jersey Shore and die laughing (Watched every episode, not all of them were great)
• Consume my weight in granola bars every month (Some months yes, most no. Man can not live on Honey and Oat alone)
• Eat at every restaurant on the island (If by every, you mean the handful that I frequented often, then sure)
• Go to a gym (I did. And even ran. Twice. In a year. I'm a bit out of shape)
• Acquire more random T-shirts (True, to the point I had to get rid of some to make luggage weight restrictions)
• Be known as the king of something (Accomplished [King of Wii Fencing after I pioneered the "Windmill Attack"])
• Review every class twice a week (Actually did this one. Pretty proud of myself about it actually)
• Read the books I had on hand (Yes sir, except I haven't finished Pres Hinckley's Bio yet. It's very long and a bit dry)
• Make better resolutions for next year...

All in all, I feel like a success looking back on the handful of goals I set out for myself. Some of you might bring up the fact that hardly any of those goals have any lasting impact or benefit. To those people I say...you're right. Beyond the reviewing and reading, they were all pointless. But they were still goals, and I still had to put in some effort to achieve each and every one of them. So we'll agree to disagree.

As for 2011, I see bright things in my future. Not so much the immediate future, but starting in a month or two, things are really going to start coming up Rick Russell. For this next month, it will be a deluge of essays and applications all over again for business school as well as preparing for the GMAT. If I'm not looking into jobs or going to the gym (more on that later) than there's a 90% chance I'm either sleeping or working on some sort of application. Nothing new, just another grind.

Now back to the gym. I've gone five times since Friday. That's more than the past 3 years combined (I can't know for sure, but I know I only went 3 times during the year and a half I was on the island, never for the year I was in Florida, I think I had already canceled my membership for the last semester I was at BYU, so it's certainly a safe assumption). Above all else, I realize just how far I've slipped. I hurt in all sorts of new muscles. Flexors on my shins scream at me. The levator scapulae are my sworn enemies after a couple laps swimming. And one set of chest flys provides enough radiant heat to render my jacket moot. Absurd. Nevertheless, I plan on riding this horse until it bucks me. Or until I have a job that forces me to change my workout schedule. I enjoy going at 7:15, when there is hardly anyone there to realize just how pitiful I am. Went the other day around 5:30... straight madhouse. There was a line just to be checked in. And I'm probably wrong, but I certainly felt like all of them were in better shape than I was. I prefer my failures private.

Other resolutions (yes I'm counting attending the gym more often as a resolution, and yes, I have already accomplished it) include:

• Going on a date. It's been nearly a year and a half since I've been out on a one-on-one date. I have to imagine I'm rusty, and I know that I have little idea what is the social norm for someone in my current social stratum. Let's just hope dinner still works, because beyond that I would have no clue what to do.
• Read the new books that I have. For Christmas, above all, I received clothes and books. I'm very pleased about this. It helps that I picked out all of said clothes and books, but that's not the point now is it.
• Not get a speeding ticket. I figure it would be good to put down 12 consecutive months where I haven't had to sit through a defensive driving course. Check back in October to see if I succeeded. If I can get through September unscathed, I have a good chance.
• Attend a Rockies game and one other team I haven't seen yet. The most likely other candidate, proximity-based, would be the Oakland Athletics. Any other team would have to be some stroke of luck and coincidence, like going to Milwaukee for the cheese festival and the Brewers happen to be in town. Either way, I've only got 11 teams left, and like Pokemon, I gotta catch 'em all.

So yeah, those are my goals for the next year. Additionally, I would like to secure a job within the next month, both as a mean of financial gain, and as a something in case B-school doesn't work out (which is a strong possibility given my rather light resume). Truth be told, if I found the right job, I have would have no problem postponing B-school for a year or even indefinitely. Right now, lot of possibilities are out there for me. I just hope some of them come through.

Word.