New Year's Irresolutions

I made just one resolution for this new year: to write at least one article per week, and submit it. Now, here it is, the Ides of January a fading memory, February just a sneeze away, and have I succeeded in my resolution?

No.

I kept getting sidetracked, by the idea of New Year's Resolutions.

Why in the world would we start making resolutions at this time of year? Oh, sure, ramble on about "shortest day of the year" and "nights are finally going to get shorter." A favorite fall-back: "We've gotten a new calendar, and look, so many blank spaces to fill!" And let's not forget the ever-popular "Everyone else is doing it...."

But why, in this dark and cold and depressing time, would we choose to add another burden? Dunno about you, but I'm weighed down quite enough, this time of year, thank you very much. Between the post-holiday doldrums (which grew out of, let it be said, the "oh god it's the holidays again" doldrums), inclement weather, and impending income tax preparation, I don't really need any flipping resolutions I can't keep.

And let's be honest. Don't we usually choose some enormous, almost-impossible task as a Resolution? Something most of us know, deep in our hearts, that we simply can't or won't achieve? I vote we change the term to "New Year's Irresolutions." All in favor, groan weakly.

These days, my best resolution tends to be "I shall wake up in the morning, and I shall find coffee." For a while, I was pretty pleased to achieve the "wake up in the morning" part; I nearly died a few years ago, and it's surprising how much that can change your priorities. Waking up each morning was a grand thing. Still is.

Strikes me, really, that our best time to make resolutions would be the first day of Spring - energy's rising, daylight's there to boost us along, it's altogether a more hopeful time.

Still, I'll give it my best, better late than never, yatta yatta. Here's my official First Week Of January offering. And I'm hopeful that as the sunlight increases and energy rises, I'll get caught up.

I am not, however, going to be too resolute about it....