You Might Want To Try This...

I bring you this blog post as a public service announcement.  As the day has gone on (and on, and on - after all I did partake a little last night, and I have four children two of whom made it until midnight, and I am dead dog tired) I have decided that regarding New Year's Resolutions people basically fall into two camps.  Those who are gun ho (huh?) and those who absolutely abhor resolutions.  Making resolutions almost carries the same stigma as stepping in dog doo for this second camp.  And before continuing I will say - I fall into neither of these camps (once again I am an outlier and although I have made a few resolutions I have also tried to adhere closely to the principles set forth below - see http://girlonapage.wordpress.com/.)

For the people who are gun ho (gung ho?  gun hoe?) I say, "Carry on.  We all love your enthusiasm (you can say that part with a tad of sarcasm in your voice)."  And to the other camp, I say, "You Might Want To Try This..."

And I resort to what I do best - A LIST!!!  Yippee and Happy First List of the New Year!

1.  Set your sights LOWER.  Instead of resolving to do your part to create world peace, resolve to shower before noon.
2.  Make your list SHORT.  The proverbial ten resolutions may be too much for you.  Step back and pick five, or three that you can easily accomplish - by December of 2011.  Gradually add more as you progress through the year, or not - just sit fat and happy in June when you are done and those enthusiastic people referred to above are still muddling through #23 (because they are over achievers and ALWAYS have more than 10 resolutions).
3.  Be specific and concentrate on what you are already doing well.  For example, if you are a couch potato you probably don't want to resolve to do the age old, "exercise more."  Blah, and phooey.  Who wants that?  Instead, consider resolving to be active once a day (and that fits in nicely with #1 - shower and consider yourself accomplished!). 
4.  Mention a lot of other people who live with you in your resolutions.  Not only does this let YOU off the hook, but the other people you live with will appreciate it too!  For example, instead of "Lose 10 pounds," you could resolve to help your hubby lose 10 pounds.  Monitor his diet carefully and insist that by doing this you are accomplishing YOUR resolutions.  Everyone's a winner and he'll thank you later.  ;o)  (You can do the same thing with your kids, too.)
5.  In keeping with #2 I am going to end now so that you can be on your way making your resolutions and KEEPING them! 

Happy New Year, friends.  Once again, you can also find me at http://girlonapage.wordpress.com/ where I'll be hanging out once in a while in 2011.