Ringing it in

Party!

Happy 2012!

Note--all these fireworks were lit in front of our house. Thanks, Tony! Fireworks are pretty awesome when all my kids are asleep. ;)

For just a moment, I would like to step up on my soapbox and give a short rant about New Years' Resolutions...basically, I am opposed. For three reasons:

1. It's a horrible time to start something. Honestly, you need time to recover from all the holidays. It always takes me a few weeks to get back into the groove of a regular routine and if I'm trying to jumpstart all kinds of new resolve at the same time, suffice it to say that I don't expect grand results.

2. There is a huge connotation of failure. How often do you hear about people actually achieving their resolutions? Now, don't be offended, I know there are people out there who really do set their minds to succeed and succeed they do. But that's not what you hear about. You hear about all the people who join the gym and only go twice, those who vow to read 100 books and quit after three, or what have you. I don't like the idea of setting a goal like that at a time when society generally expects you to fail, no matter who you are or what your goal is. I just don't like the connotation there.

3. If I have something that I really want to be doing or working on or changing about myself, I just do it. The idea of waiting for a convenient date seems like a stall or a way to be lazy and not commit right away. It also implies that starting anything during the rest of the year doesn't really count because you haven't worked on it for the whole year.

HOWEVER.

Before you come flying at me with torches and pitchforks, let me state my view of the other side of the coin.

1. Goals are always a good thing. Life is much more productive if we have something that we are aiming for. I would certainly say that it's better to set goals at the beginning of the year than never at all.

2. New Year's does provide an excellent time for taking stock of the previous, making note of the things that went well and what might need to be improved. In light of improving over the past, New Year's is a convenient time stamp for switching old to new...I know, that's the whole idea.

3. Despite the messages of imminent failure, there is a lot of talk about setting goals and deciding on resolutions. It can be really nice to remember to take a few moments to evaluate and set some goals.


I've been reading a lot of resolutions on friends' blogs, and I must say, I'm impressed. I read goals that I hadn't considered before that I think are really good ideas and will eventually work their way onto my to-do lists. Thanks for the inspirations, friends! I do have several things that I am already working on right now, and I hope to keep going with them until I achieve my goal, then we'll pick something new to work on. Here's to self-improvement.