For the Sake of Simplicity: Happy New Year 2018!

By the time you read this, the chestnuts have been roasted, the New Year toasted, and your resolutions intact and on their way to being broken. Not a great segue into 2018? Well, let us forget the fact that by July most of us have not only forgotten our resolutions, we have broken most of them. We will carry on as if reality has not yet interceded and that this will be the year that we reach our goals, set with the haze of the holidays still fogging our minds.
Resolutions, those determined and pesky goals we set for ourselves, are to my mind a bit of a necessity as they show that the glass is not always half empty. It is our optimistic half full selves that make resolutions, and it is that very positive side of us that thinks that the glass of life is neither half full or half empty, but just waiting to be filled to the brim. (Okay, I see you rolling your eyes at my (borrowed) analogy, but stick with me. And didn’t your mother tell you that if you rolled your eyes too much they would stay that way? No, that was when you went cross-eyed…)
Resolutions are kind of high-faluting promises we make to ourselves, and when we do not carry through, generally we are only letting ourselves down. But think about it, we are our own worst critics, so we are letting down the very people we should be trying to impress. Okay, I am getting a little deep here… let’s lighten up a bit. I say we simplify things and make a few resolutions we can keep, intermingled with a few that will last until mid-year, and perhaps set one (or two or three) that are impossible but that we would like to achieve. So here goes:

Resolutions I Will Be Sure to Keep:
Read more.
Eat chocolate (and I do not mean the healthy dark chocolate. I still like milk chocolate, having accepted that my taste buds are immature.)
Have an occasional spirit.
Laugh more. (It is good for your soul. Seriously)

Resolutions I May Keep (or at least strive at keeping):
Write more (and actually finish something longer than 1000 words or the 17-syllable haiku.)
Read more literature. Reacquaint myself with the Bard and Margaret Atwood (whom I put on the same plane.)
Use social media less (a time stealer I have grown to enjoy too much.)
Cook from a recipe and not rote.
Start a petition exulting the Oxford comma (which I use when I remember).)
My Big Resolution(s):
Find myself. (I am just kidding)
Not make spelling or grammar errors. (Kidding #2)
Okay, now for real this time: Finish writing a book, have it made into a mini-series or movie (I am not fussy) and become filthy rich (as opposed to just rich.)
And, if we are really going for broke “Miss America” style: Broker world peace and make sure everyone has a roof over their heads, and meals to look forward to.
Resolutions are very personal. Many of mine are me-centric, but that is what the whole resolution making game is about. It is a reflection of us, our sense of humour (whether it be lame, witty or cutting edge), our values, and our hopes and dreams. Some of my resolutions were made with tongue firmly planted in cheek, but also with the hope, the outside chance that I can carry them out. I know for sure that some of my resolutions will be easy to keep; some are a bit far-fetched; and yes, a few are impossible, but so what? They are mine and I will hold them dear.
Even if you do not put pen to paper or like me, tap them out on your laptop, you know that you will at least be considering how you would like the new year to go. You may not commit your resolution to paper, but you know that in the back of your mind you cannot resist the idea that 2018 will be your year. With that in mind, I wish you all a very Happy New Year! Cheers to 2018!
Eat. Drink. Be Merry. And do no harm.