new year's resolutions

Some people who drink coffee everyday are trying to drink green tea instead. Good luck with those caffeine-withdrawal headaches. I give you a week. Some people are trying to quit smoking cold-turkey. Good luck not whittling your own fingernails off. Some people are trying to suddenly lose a bunch of weight. So on and so on.

Where did this tradition come from? All year long we admit to procrastinating, being lazy, trying our best in a mixed-up world. And then come the first of January, we all believe we might suddenly be capable of some massive attitudinal shift. Nah. Don't all of life's little messes teach us, instead, that small changes make a really, really big difference? Sometimes I think we're all just a few tiny adjustments away from the life we'd be happier with. So in celebration of that, here are my new year's resolutions, in all their minute (but epic to me) glory...

1) I never, ever have been good at keeping my car organized and clean. Ask any of my friends. Hell, ask anyone that knows me. This past weekend I gutted it completely--all the books, all the random clothes never brought in from the drycleaners', all the paper, all the old pens, all the parking stubs....etc. And I'm on day 3 of a clean car. It's a whole new world.

2) Once on The Office Pam Beesly made a resolution to ask more directly for what she wanted, everyday. This was illustrated when she went to happy hour, was handed the wrong beer, and hesitated for only a second before confronting the bartender. "No. This was supposed to be a lite." I'm resolved to make my sentences more declarative. Sometimes I speak too abstractly. But that wastes time. And the thing is, stating exactly what you want is not always met with good vibes. It freaks some people out, which is understandable. But it's better that ambiguity. Always.

3) I refuse to make the blanket resolution of exercise. I know myself well enough to know that if I try to start running everyday again, or even three times a week, all of a sudden...I'll burn out as quickly as a cheap lighter. So instead, I'm aiming low in hopes of building up. Once a week, a good solid run again. I'll see what happens from there.

4) I must do a better job at returning phone calls. I suck at returning phone calls.

Good luck everyone...

xoxo