Now that the festive wrapping paper, dainty little bows and cumbersome cardboard boxes of joy have been put at the curb, and the merriment of Christmas is being packed away until next year, it's time to turn our attention to a New Year, fresh starts and promises to be "better" at something in the coming months.
Do you make New Year's resolutions? I think it's great to strive for a higher plane of living. Too often, however, like promising to get into better shape, exercise more and eat better, by the time March rolls around most resolutionists are sitting on the couch, eating junk food and watching reality TV while the gym membership/treadmill/sweatpants gather dust and neglect.
Some people make sweeping "I want to be a better person" resolutions, which in the end cannot be measured because of vagueness and no objective way to show progress. How are you going to be a better person in 2004?
Here are some suggestions:
1. Only pick your nose while driving.*
2. Use polite words when you are cussing someone out (i.e. "Get out of my way, please, you stupid sorry sack of day-old muffins.").
3. Show up to work on time, every day.
4. Shower regularly, as in almost every day.
5. Always close the toilet lid completely, so the next person can modify its position for the desired purpose and not accidentally drop a cell phone in there. Also, please flush after every use.
6. Park your car in between the conveniently painted lines so as to leave room for your fellow parkers.
7. Laugh openly, but not with your mouth open unless something is really funny.
8. Offer "hello's" and warm smiles to most people you meet. Each one goes a long way to defrosting a lonely heart, and you never know the difference you could be making.
9. Either blog more or blog less. Shake up your routine a little. Blogging less can leave time for other worthwhile pursuits. Blogging more can be cathartic, pleasant and open new worlds for you.
10. Don't offer unsolicited advice, no matter how much you think you know. It is even worse to dispense such drivel in list form (I'm still working on this one, folks).
*I'm of a mind that it's best not to pick one's nose, but I realize old habits die hard. So don't beat yourself up if you're sitting in traffic and get the urge to poke around a little. Baby steps, people.
So, it's time for your participation: Do you make New Year's resolutions? Do you usually keep them or do you forget them before the year is up? What are yours for 2004? And finally, how do you plan to ring in the New Year this time around?
1. I don't usually make resolutions.
2. When I do, they are long gone by spring.
3. For 2004 I am going to run spellcheck after everything I write.
4. Either a party we've been invited to, or sitting at home with my peeps.
Haha those are good!
I haven't ever made any resolutions, but this year I think mine will be to find a house, as apartment living is seriously cramping my style!
Happy Monday!
Dew
I like to keep my resolutions reasonable. Like you're really going to run shpell-checker.... get reel.
I don't make resolutions. We'll probably spend NYE at home. And you know you pick your nose. Everyone does. It is an undeniable fact of humanity.
When I was home over the break, I realized that my dad has an annoying habit of never picking his nose UNLESS he's driving. Ugh.
merry belated christmas, firstly. i've been a bad, bad reader/commenter of late. tsk tsk to me, i know.
since i get christmas-birthday-new years in a nice evenly spaced out row this is my big time of year for introspection. i hate to make "resolutions" because once you call it a resolution it becomes harder to stick to. i want this next year to be healthier, happier and more positive for me. 2003 was just on the whole rather painful and difficult with just a couple of exceptions (blogging and the blog community one shining exception). 2004 is already looking to be much more productive, successful and happy. after all, i graduate in 2004, i now own my car, and i'm off to ny for the first time since i left there in 1995. good stuff already, and it's still the 29th. no clue how i'm going to ring it in, though. nothing big, i'm sure.
a very happy new year to you and yours, t-bone. you've helped make 03 more memorable and bearable for me.
I quit making resolutions a few years ago and starting going with a New Years theme. The first year I picked, "That's cool," meaning "That's Cool" as in "No big deal, I can handle this, I'm not going to freak out" as oppsed to "That's Cool" as in "That's Neat."
Anyway, "That's Cool" in all of it's surfer Zen goodness was a success in spite of all the craziness that went on that year.
The following year was, "One thing at a time", which I often translated into "Get Your Shit together". That's how I survived the move to RI and all that ensued therafter.
I still haven't decided what my "slogan" for this year will be, though calling people day-old sacks of muffins should definitely be incorporated somehow.
*Do you make New Year's resolutions?
I try not to, but perhaps if i made more concrete resolutions, baby steps as it were.
*Do you usually keep them or do you forget them before the year is up?
Generally, I forget them.
*What are yours for 2004?
Diapers No More In 2004. Our debt simply has to be cut, this is a 'sweeping, generalized one' though, I'll need to tweak it for concrete-ness. I have another, but it's personal.
*And finally, how do you plan to ring in the New Year this time around?
A party, where if all goes well I will first kiss my husband at the New Year and then I'll kiss a bunch of other people, some of whom I know and love...others that I might just know and love for just one night.
Good question.
Dropping the ball on last year's NYR, Kerry has the right idea. Alternately, it's better to reflect upon the year gone by choosing an act serving as the year's NYR.
Happy New Year.
Rarely keep them IF I make them, but this year I hope to be different. This year it's just one - get to know my long-distant family better by writing letters BY HAND to them.
1. Yes, I do, but not very seriously, as that seems to lead to their doom and my disappointment.
2. I tend to forget what I resolved, so I'm never quite sure if they were sucessful.
3. I think I'd just like to be a better partner. That includes no "pushing buttons" on purpose and no fault-finding of Ethan in public--even in jest.
4. We'll find a party, we'll kiss at midnight, then I'll get sick and tired of the drunken masses and pout in a corner for at least an hour before I convince the rest of my carload to go home.
Resolutions that aways make the list as they should:
Laugh, Love and Live more
Give till it hurts, then a few pennies more
Dance every song, even if solo
Find old friends
Rejoice in every little chance to celebrate your humaness
Hmmm. Sounds like tidbits off a Celestial Tea box! So, yeah drink more tea!
-picking nose while reading T Bone-
Resolution 1......no picking of nose while blogging.
Seriously though, I do make some resolutions (I like to think of it more as forward planning), but try to keep them realistic. It is easy to get carried away making unrealistic goals for ourselves and as you say, they have been flushed down the toilet by the end of January.
All the best to you and yours for 2004. Keep blogging.
Do I make New Year's Resolutions?
- Not really -- if so, they tend to be of the "focus on others", "live a healthier lifestyle" variety. And I think I do ok, there...
- If I do, I'm pretty much a year-round resolution keeper. (Well, that's if the resolution is realistic)
If the resolution is "Try to be at work on time every day", I'll blow it the first week... Can't help it, I live on El-Standard Time. (CST + 15 minutes) Along those lines, if the resolution is to save more $$$, that get's tossed during the first shoe sale...
- Let's see... for 2004? Maybe it's time to grow up a little and think about settling down? (YIKES! I get a panic attack just thinking about that!)
- New Year's plans include running the 5K Resolution Run in Chicago, then hitting a concert/party (Sister Hazel, Guster and the Thorns) at the House of Blues in Chgo... WoooHoooo!
Happy 2004 to you and yours!!!! ENJOY!
i make new year's resolutions only to see how many and how quickly i'll break them.. :)
Always close the tiolet lid completely, so the next person can modify its position for the desired purpose. Ok, first, position up is the only purpose I ever have for it. Second, at 3:00am in the morning, it is entirely possible to have waited soooo long that when you did finally sit on it, even with the lid down, you did relieve yourself along with watering a good part of your legs, the bathroom floor and the top of the lid... The resolution I see for the toilet? If you use the last of the toilet paper, replenish.
Have a wonderful, fantastic 2004 -- I can't wait to see what it has in store for both of us! :)
Although I do not really make resolutions any more, I have several goals.
1. Write EVERY day
2. Make healthier lifestyle choices
3. DO BOTH
It has been a pleasure to get to know you this year, and thank you for your support and encouragement.Happy 2004!
read more t-bone in 2004.