My New Year's Resolution for 2009

My New Year's resolution for 2009 is actually the one I make every year: be positive and recognize that there is more good in my life than bad. Like so many, it seems, I have multiple health problems, and never quite enough money to go around. But that doesn't mean I can't appreciate what it good in my life. These are my top five ways:

1. Begin by doing that old cliche, counting my blessings. Each time I do that, I find that my blessings far out number my problems. Even when the blessings don't exactly outnumber problems, they're certainly a bigger factor in my life than the problems - if I let them be. And thus I can truly see what's good in my life.

2. Stay around positive people, and avoid people who may bring me down or sabotage me. It's not always possible to be positive all the time, and even the most positive people have bad days. But if I spend more time with people I know who tend to be positive and supportive, and avoid the people I know always try to sabotage me, or tell me what I can't do instead of what I can, it's a lot easier to be positive and see the good.

3. Do something kind for a stranger or an old friend every day. If I'm feeling bad, nothing makes me feel better than by doing something for someone else. It may be something quite simple, like holding a door for a senior citizen or someone with an obvious mobility problem. It may be something more complex, like a week of delivering Meals on Wheels - and not complaining that it always seems to be the dead of winter when it's my church that gets the duty! I may be the only person that the recipient of each meal sees or talks to that day, so I can't allow my own problems to get in the way of making their day better. And oddly (or maybe not so oddly), the more you do for others, the more you seem to do for yourself.

4. Send a card to an elderly relative or former neighbor each week. Some have lost their husband or wife, and live alone. They may or may not get much mail besides bills and junk. Phone calls and email are easy, but a cheerful card with a handwritten note can truly make someone else's day. That seems to be especially true for older people who never really got into computers, and spent much of their lives writing letters and cards.

5. Go to my church every Sunday. Whether I feel well or not, it's important for me to go to my church. Not to be seen by the minister or the other members of the congregation, not to show off new clothes (which I rarely have anyway!), but to worship as part of a community of faith. I pray daily, but alone in my home with God in my living room is a different feeling from worshiping with a community. Everything may be multiplied by the number of people praying together, with their Lord in their hearts; the songs of the choir can lift my heart; and I never leave my church unmoved or unhappy.