May old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind . . . what the heck is that about?

And so we begin again. A new year is upon and with it brings new opportunities, new beginnings, and a fresh start. The record is wiped clean. Is this all really true? Do we really get a brand new beginning with the New Year? Probably not and that is why we probably fail at so many efforts to start new habits in the form of New Year’s Resolutions, but what is the harm in trying, right?


I have a great advantage (or disadvantage, depending upon on your perspective) in that I have hundreds and thousands of readers (alright, maybe one of my resolutions should be to stop exaggerating . . . nah) that can hold me accountable to my resolutions. Once I put them down on this paper and it gets printed in the newspaper, I will have friends and family asking me, how’s that resolution coming?

The challenge is coming up with a resolution that is not only interesting, but reasonable as well. I really want to change my life for the better, but I don’t want it to be too hard to do (seriously, who wants to sacrifice that much for a resolution). I don’t want to create one where I eliminate things I already do, but one where I begin doing new things. So what do I do? How do I come up with something new?

I asked my son, what he thought and what his New Year’s resolution was going to be, he said, “What’s a resolution?” That helped me create my first resolution; don’t ask a four year old unreasonable questions. No, that is eliminating something I normally do, so let me change that, my first resolution will be to better educate my children on the issues we are discussing. That would certainly be new and would require an immense amount of patience, which I don’t have. So, resolution number one is to improve my patience through intentional activities with my children. Good one, thank you son.

My daughter is even more challenging and would require even more explaining, since she is only two, but I asked nonetheless. “Merry Mismas!” she yells in response with great joy and spirit. This is her pronunciation of Merry Christmas and not quite an answer to the question I was asking. She doesn’t realize it is a week after Christmas and 357 days until next Christmas, but she is living life like its Christmas Eve. That’s it! I’ve got my second resolution – live life like it’s that special time of year, every day, filled with spirit and joy. Boy, that one might be tough, but I’ll give it a shot.

For a third resolution I must look to my wife, the rock of our family. She spent the entire holiday season giving to others. She has an unconquerable spirit of service like nobody I’ve ever met. I’ve got it! My last resolution will be to better serve others. I mean, I’ve got the best role model I know under my own roof. There, that wasn’t so hard was it? More patience, spirit and joy, and serving others – these are my New Year’s resolutions . . . we’ll see how long these last.