New Year's Resolutions

I don't normally make them. I don't think I've ever made one. Not since grade school when your teacher made you pick a resolution and so you came up with one, though you never really intended to do it at all.
I didn't believe in resolutions. The time to make a change is anytime. There's no rhyme or reason to doing it on January 1. Do it now. However, I thought it would be good to make goals for once. Not liking the idea of resolutions is an easy excuse to being lazy. I just muddle around from day to day without a clear plan. I don't know where I'm going because I don't know where I want to go. I don't want to plan my life out, I let things happen as they happen. Go with the flow.

But I was inspired.

I helped my brother Joe move to New York in September and we stayed at his friend Nicole's place. In her bedroom taped to her closet door was a list scrawled on notebook paper:

"New Year's Resolutions 2007"
1. Run a marathon
2. Start the process of getting into law school
3. Learn a new language

And below the paper, hanging on the doorknob of her closet, were medals for completing half-marathons. It was September and she was planning to run the Chicago marathon later that fall. But the thing that got me was the simple fact that she set goals, and was working toward attaining them. She was running. She was starting the process of getting into law school, I know now she passed her LSAT. I don't know a lot of people that do these kinds of things. My family is the world champion of saying they will do something and then never doing it.
So, in inspiration, I'm making resolutions. A simple list, a simple plan.

New Year's Resolutions 2008
1. Recycle
2. Get back into shape
3. Learn to play the piano.

Something environmental, (I've been so lazy about recycling - it's responsible and ethical and geeky, but it's my goal and I'm gonna do it) something physical (I don't have far to go, I just enjoyed the holidays too much and have been super lazy since my treadmill broke), and something educational. I've always wanted to learn to play the piano. Why not do something about it?

So, there it is. I'm setting goals. It's not like I'm plotting my life, just writing down and doing things I want to do. I've been told I have to chart progress and have a clearly defined goal and deadline in mind so I know when I've attained it, and I may work on clarifying my plan but for now, I've got my simple list. It's taped to my wall so I don't forget about it and hopefully soon I'll have something to show for it.