For a long time, I quit making New Year’s resolutions. You might say I became a cynic.
“A fresh start” always sounded wonderful at the end of an old year when I was filled up to my ears with calorie laden, overdone celebrations. I’d find myself yearning for a “fresh new beginning” and would enthusiastically write a list of new resolutions until one year, I realized I’d made them all before…. give up sugar…wake up every morning at five and exercise… improve my posture. And never kept them.
Same thing with the clean slate idea, been there done that. I would make a resolution and swear on a stack of Bibles to keep it (I will not complain about the weather) but when that first dreary winter day hit, all my good intentions flew out the window, and I’d whine.
As for self-improvement resolutions—like I will walk three miles a day…read Dickens…cook a gourmet dinner one night a week and serve it on white linen with candles glowing…I had to give myself the raspberries on that one.
However, I haven’t lived on this planet for a respectable number of decades without learning a few things and have finally found a way to make and keep New Year’s resolutions. This “ah ha” moment hit when I discovered that the only successful way of dealing with resolutions is to make only those you can keep.
I proudly present my 2013 New Year’s resolutions.
I resolve to:
1. Spend more time reading for entertainment, not to improve my mind. When I finish the fourth book in the Game of Thrones series, I will buy the fifth.
2. Never eat pickled herring- –the worst concoction ever invented by Scandinavians.
3. On the other hand, I resolve always to eat Christmas cookies baked by a Swedish or Norwegian lady who learned to bake from her mother.
4. Never quit buying shoes I love but don’t need.
5. Never quit buying handbags I love but don’t need.
6. Drink at least one large mocha latte per day. Same could apply to a glass of Riesling wine.
7. Always write my columns at the last minute.
8. Never speed when I’m driving. If you’ve ever crept down the Gunflint behind my yellow Jeep, you’ll know what I mean.
9. Always overschedule my day.
10. Spend more time relaxing with family and friends.
There is no way I cannot keep these resolutions, so I can relax and head into 2013 without a shred of guilt, wishing my readers a Happy New Year.
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