Well it's the new year... I'm sure you're all as thrilled as I am. It seems like the older I get the less and less I care about transitioning from December to January, is it really that big of a deal? But what it does provide us with is the opportunity for reflection. What did I accomplish this past year? What caused me to fail or stumble? What will I do differently this next year? How can I make these things happen? I know you all make a list like this on January 1st... yeah right. Neither do I, but it's probably a good idea. What else is the change good for? It's a fresh start, a redo, a second chance, a third chance, maybe a fourth chance or however many it takes. The new year's celebration is what? A celebration of death of another year? The celebration of the birth of another year? A celebration of success or failure? Expectation or reflection? The new year is typically a time when people make all sorts of resolutions that they hope will change the course of their life or make their life better in some way... people don't generally make resolutions to hurt their lives. Yet what is a resolution? A resolution is a promise, proclamation or good intentioned attempt to do the right thing this time around. Yet for the most part a resolution is simply an acknowledgment that something in our lives isn't aligned correctly, that we have made some mistakes that we don't want to continue. For the most part if we were really going to change, or resolve, whatever issue we are declaring immunity to, we would just stop doing it. If you really wanted to stop drinking, then stop. If you want to join the gym in the new year and lose weight, just do it. Think about it, if there was something you really wanted to change, you would just do it. Really, how many new year's resolutions can you remember keeping until year's end? Probably very few if any. I read a psychology article recently that said resolutions are basically an excuse for people to binge on their dirty little habit one last time without feeling bad about it. "Well I'm going on a diet on January 1st so I need to eat a huge breakfast, a huge lunch, and an enormous dinner with two sides of dessert on December 31." What?!? That just sounds dumb. If you really wanted to resolve something about your life, you would just change. So change! Don't wait for some magical date that is going to allow you to keep up whatever your habit it. If you want to have a better relationship with your spouse, start now! If you want to lose weight, stop reading and go to the gym... wait... keep reading then go to the gym. The point is resolutions shouldn't be a anything more than change. Change is the answer and change can happen anytime you let it. Change now, or tomorrow, or tonight or immediately! Change the next way you interact with your spouse, or the next interaction with your boss or that annoying kid in your class. Change is up to you... If you are going to make any resolution this year, how about resolving to change...