Resolve

I am not one for making New Year's resolutions. When asked, I will usually reply 'I resolve to be grumpier, have more pizza, and fly off the handle more often'. Its not that I don't believe in the concept, but that I fail so often at the execution. By February, I barely remember that I had resolutions; by April, not even that lingers. The single long term resolution, if you can call it that, that I've kept is one that's on a tattered index card taped to the cabinet in our bathroom. It says, simply, that every day is a chance to get it right -- whatever it is, whatever right is. Once each day is done, it's done; move on, grasp the new day, try again. There are days when even that won't shake me out of a slump, but there are also days when that reminds me to try again, that change, and improvement, are possible.

I am also not one to Try Great Things. To tell the truth, I'm not sure that I ever was, even in my youth. I'm much more of a Take It As It Comes sort of person. I've never had much of a desire to conquer the world, sequence the genome, design the best compiler, make the tastiest chocolate chip cookie. I don't slump through life -- well, not much -- but neither do I try in a repeated fashion to do things that I want to do, but which don't flow easily. Like others, I have accomplishments that I'd like to have made, but haven't -- the classic weight control, of course, but others, too, such as reading serious books more, baking a wider range of things, learning to program in Python. Each of those has been tried in the past, sometimes with success -- and then dropped as the truth of the old phrase was shown -- Life is what happens while you were making other plans.

Therefore, I'm not going to make a lot of resolutions this year, but I am going to make a couple -- and those, I'm going to find a way to remember, and act on. I'm not sure what that way will be. Despite the effectiveness of the index card, I don't think I'll note them there (I tried that once, and grew tired of the exhortations, every morning). I'm going to figure that out, though. As an example of what's possible with a reasonable attitude and determination, I offer this post from the excellent Wendster's Blog. It's worth reading, both for the content and for her attitude, which encourages me. Perhaps it will encourage you, too.