WHY DO YOU HAVE THAT BEDROOM DOOR LOCKED?

It's that time of the year. EVERYONE is doing it in one way or another. Yes, you are! Admit it! You may not call it the same thing, but you KNOW you're doing it. What? You don't want to talk about it? You don't even want to ADMIT it? Fine, but you aren't fooling anyone, you know! Besides, there's nothing WRONG with it; nothing shameful. We ALL do it. Sigh ... okay then. CLOSE that door. Pull down the shades. Draw the drapes. But we can still SEE you. We KNOW what you're doing in there because we're all doing it, too. It's normal. Natural. Human nature. It's - well - it's TRADITION! I'm going to say it. Yes, I am, and right out LOUD! Cover your ears, then, but here I go! You are in there ...
making NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS! Ah-ha!!!! YOU thought I was joking, huh? Didn't think I'd out you! I did, though. In fact, I outed 95% - possibly MORE - of the population! Next Saturday begins the new year - 2011 - and while some of us don't actually WRITE a list of resolutions, we make them. We may not even call them that. Goals. Yes, we're making GOALS. Or listing things to do. Really? I mean, REALLY????? Give me that paper. C'mon, hand it over if you have nothing to hide. 

 1. Buy onions. (Well, okay.) 
 2. Take out trash. (Hmmm ...)
 3. Renew subscription to TV Guide. (Maybe I WAS mistaken.) 
 4. Lose 150 pounds by next month. 


HA! I KNEW IT! See????? 

I don't make resolutions. No, truly. I CHALLENGE myself. (Did you see right through that BS?) LOL! Seriously, for all my joking around, I think making resolutions is a WONDERFUL thing to do. And I DON'T believe it should be restricted only to the new year. In fact, I think we should set goals regularly. They can be ANY kind of goal and any degree of difficulty in achieving. What I DO believe is this: We should be realistic. If we say we are going to lose 100 pounds in 9 weeks, either we are SOOOOOO out of touch with reality it's not cute, or we have just won a spot on the next season of THE BIGGEST LOSER. But if we say we are going to replace 5 of 7 sugary desserts weekly with fresh fruit, that's an achievable goal. I used to tell my students to think about 5 things they would like to list and ask themselves if at least 4 were realistic. Mine weren't always realistic. I mean, I wanted to walk to the park and find HIM waiting on me; telling me I was EXACTLY who he'd always been looking for.

That was no goal. That was pure FANTASY! (Nice - REALLY NICE - fantasy, but still ...) As I've gotten older and (hopefully) a BIT wiser, my idea of New Year's Resolutions has changed drastically. First, I do THIS!

REALISTIC GOALS. Second, I decide that the goals I set can be changed if I realize that something ELSE will be more suitable for what I need and want from life.

Third, I decide that there's NOT an exact time limit to my achieving the goal. January 1 is nothing more than a starting gun to the race. No rule says we can't stop and start, start over entirely, fail the first (or second, third, and fourth times) or even completely head off in a different direction!

These days, I STILL make 'resolutions'. But mine usually are pretty simple. I seriously doubt I'll ever be a thin person. I can TRY and take care of myself but my health has a way of doing what it wants at times regardless of my best efforts. I NEVER ask for riches because I honestly just don't CARE if I have lots of $$! Long as I can pay my expenses in this life and buy a few fun things now and then, help out people when possible - I'm good with what I have. As for having Eric Schweig waiting on me in the park (or anywhere, for that matter) - well - I'm WAY more likely to have someone like PeeWee Herman waiting. Resolutions. Goals. Lists of things to do. I make them to force MYSELF to remember what's important to ME. 

Yeah. And I'm never going to hide behind doors to do it. Here. I will SCREAM it: I MAKE RESOLUTIONS!!!! I do. And I think it's good for the soul.

                   HAPPY, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Now. Come out of that closet and make YOUR resolutions!