In the New Year

For New Years Eve did you plan a night out, a party, a quite evening with family. . . I planned an evening with my husband. Whatever you or I do, it is done in celebration of one more year past and in celebration of a new year-- a blank slate.

The next thing we do for New Years is make a resolution. You may resolve to stop smoking, to loose weight, to clean out a closet, or to organize the sock drawer. Whatever the resolution, it is announced to friends and family, then there is the attempt to keep it for the next twelve months. It's usually a good thing we don't have good memories. . .

I wanted to resolve to loose weight, stay in shape, eat better, etc. I realize, however, that I'll most likely keep one of those resolutions for a month at best, but more likely a week.

So this year, my resolution is to think of myself less and others more.

I received an e-mail on New Years Eve from a good friend who I have not seen in years. She reflected on the current tsunami tragedy, the state of affairs in Afghanistan and Iraq. She mentioned friends that she had not keep up with, and now that tragedy has struck she is looking to find that they are okay. With this sentiment, she looked under her Christmas tree at the gifts she had received this year. She thought of how necessary they were, and decided to "trim the holiday fat." In this spirit she asked her friends and family that when the notion of giving a gift occurs to them, to send her an e-mail or a card. Then take the gift money and donation it to a worthwile cause. Her request is that her friends and family think of others outside that immediate circle of loved ones.

Thanks to her inability to sleep on New Years Eve and to her e-mail of that time, I resolve to think of the world around me and not just my friends, family, and the immediate area around me. I resolve to work on doing what I can to better others and by doing so better myself.

I hope everyone who reads this stops to think about their resolution. What did you resolve to do this year?