Saturday, December 31, 2011

Resolutions


For as many years as I can remember, I've really scorned the whole idea of resolutions. If I made them, they were sarcastic, snarky, or just downright silly. I made a resolution once to not make any resolutions.

Brilliant.

This year, I'm thinking a little humility wouldn't be a bad thing -- so maybe a resolution or two would be a good idea.

So I resolve to accept people for who they are.  Don't misread that to think that I'm going to *like* everyone. I'm just not going to tear people down just because they do/say/view things differently than I would. I don't need for other people to be less for me to be more. That's the heart of this resolution.

I resolve to remember that Noah is only 7 and Matthew is only 10. That means sometimes they will act silly; sometimes they won't listen; sometimes they won't follow directions; sometimes they will do things that will drive me crazy and  make me want to check their DNA. But I know that they are also kind, compassionate, considerate, well-mannered, bright, friendly and loving boys.  When they exhibit the former, I resolve to remember the latter and be patient.

I resolve to try to keep my anxiety at bay by focusing on the day, the hour, the minute, and on what I can affect and control.

I resolve to learn things because if you're not learning, you're not living (at least that's my philosophy).

I resolve to have fun. (See above.) There are only so many years we have and as I enter into year 50, I want to be able to look back at moments where I chose having fun over being afraid to have fun, where I chose doing something over doing nothing, and where I chose to be positive instead of negative.

That's it. Five resolutions -- one for each decade. Not bad. I wouldn't mind eating better and running more as well, but I think five's enough.

Here's to a good 2012.