No Resolve

"Another fresh new year is here, another year to live! To banish worry, doubt and fear, To love and laugh and give." - William Arthur Ward

Hear, hear! I am so glad we are getting a new year. I mean, it's not like it's rare, we get one every 365 days. It isn't as if we never get to see this kind of celebration. It's just that THIS year I think I finally have it straight in my head about resolutions. I'm not making any. Resolutions are stupid. There, I said it.

I had to look back at last year's  to make sure I hadn't already said this. Last year my resolution, if you could call it that, was to just keep going. 2010 wasn't my best year, but looking back there was more good than bad. I just kept going in 2011. I didn't do anything really new or special. A lot happened, that's for sure, but good, bad or indifferent, I just kept going.

But this year I'm changing my mind a little. "Just keep going?" What kind of lame resolution is that? Of course we just keep going, no one says on New Year's Eve "I think next year if the going gets tough, I'll just hide under my bed." We all keep going, day after day. Unless you are climbing Mount Everest, or taking a hill in Afghanistan, it's just your ordinary, crazy life. You keep going or you get run over. It's not really a resolution to just keep at it.

Instead of saying that in 2012 I'm going to be more organized or get better at this or that I'm making up my mind that whatever I do, I'm going to go full out at it. I could proclaim that I'm going to lose weight, finish my book and run a marathon. Yeah, sure, then right after that confetti will fly out of my behind.

Resolutions are just talk, and talk is cheap. Maybe I will lose more weight this year. I hope so, I have a little ways to go on that. I had a sports injury that put me out of action for a bit, but I'm back. Even if I don't lose weight I will still be out on the badminton court whacking away at the birds. I will still be in the gym going full speed ahead on the elliptical. Look out, I might even take a yoga class!

I could say that I'm going to be more organized, I'm going to clear my desk every day, put things back where they go. Oh please, that is so not happening. I have yet to make it through an entire winter with both gloves. Not for nothing, I spent 20 minutes one day this week looking for my keys. My kids decided to mess with me and hang them on the hook (which I never use) that says "KEYS."

I almost never put things away, at least not where they belong. My kitchen looks like a rogue squall went through it each morning after I make coffee. I don't shut the cabinet doors, I leave drawers open and wet spoons and sugar packets on the counter. If being more organized was that important to me, I'd have done it by now. Call me lazy or undisciplined, it might seem that way, but my kids get to school every day clothed, fed and on time to boot. The mess in the kitchen isn't going anywhere, I always get to it.

I have no idea what the year 2012 will bring for me. Whatever it is, it's coming whether I stay in shape, give up chocolate, organize my files or do any of the other mindless resolutions I have made over the years. A wise friend said to me "Revel in friendships, both old and new and resolve to forgo the New Year's resolutions." He is absolutely right.

I know for sure that in the new year I will screw up something. Probably a few somethings. Who doesn't? I just hope when I do, it was because I was going full bore at something worthwhile. I just hope if I do gain five pounds, it was because I sat with a group of friends, having pizza and wine and laughing like a fool. If my kitchen continues to be a disaster area, I hope it's because I was too busy with something that actually matters.

Happy New Year everyone! That's all I'm saying.