Happy New Year

We’re to that time of year again. Hopefully it has been a happy and healthy year for you. The trouble with New Years Eve is that we’re obliged to think of ways to improve ourselves. The list has to be realistic and must have a definite cutoff point or it gets out of hand and none of it is ever achieved. It must also be meaningful and involve some suffering on your part to show that you are serious.

This year I vow to try to listen to other peoples ideas with an open mind, even if the ideas seem trivial and a waste of time.

In my home I will turn off the light and do 30 crunches or 20 pushups each time I leave a room. I think for this resolution to be clear, the definition of room has to be established. Large open areas where you pass from room to room without opening and closing doors can’t really be included; also rooms where someone else is likely to need the light on are taboo. I think that each time I leave my closet I will apply this rule, unless there is enough light from the bathroom so I can see into the closet without turning the light on. Without having to turn the light off, the whole rule can’t apply and should not be applied fractionally.

I want to be more social and go out of my way to be kind to others. If, for instance, someone drops some packages in the rain and needs help picking them up then I would do that. There are no exceptions to this rule, unless the impact of taking the time to help one person would impact multiple others negatively. An example of this would be making the whole carpool late for work just to help one person, or if it were raining really hard.

I think I will just stick with trying not to do things to excess, except where running is concerned, and…
In all seriousness, a Happy New Year to all. May you find humor in life and goodness in others.