Just a few random thoughts on what you might choose to resolve (begin, stop, or continue) in 2012:

I

• raise your hand
• take a chance
• diversify both your economic and emotional life: resist putting all your eggs in one basket, financial or human
• learn to say “no”
• there will always be someone better, someone smarter, and someone better looking; get used to it
• exercise
• don’t text or tweet the day away
• give up on TV news soundbites and actually read something in-depth on the state of the world from a relatively unbiased source
• look in the mirror at what is underneath the surface
• make friends

II

• when upset, imagine how you will feel in a week, a month, or a year; in other words, know that most turmoil is passing
• don’t be a doormat
• deal with your childhood
• be honest, not just when it is convenient
• work hard (don’t learn the tricks of the trade before you learn the trade)
• sometimes the rain won’t stop, so discover how to dance in the rain
• be grateful and express it
• learn to apologize without excuses
• pay it forward
• pay it back

III

• before sending an angry email, write down 40 ways your missive can be misunderstood or ruin your life; then wait some more before sending
• find some hobbies
• eat right
• beware of hopelessness, but do not became a slave to hope’s capacity for illusion
• avoid too much self distraction
• remind yourself that there is no such thing as “must-see TV”
• don’t abuse substances
• laugh
• you have a shadow; best that you get to know it since you most certainly can’t outrun it
• stand for yourself, but also for something bigger

IV

• have humility
• be careful about judging
• have new experiences and learn from them
• don’t wait until your feelings change to act (act and your feelings are likely to change)
• recognize that luck plays a part in life
• be flexible — don’t inflexibly resist change
• grieve when necessary, lest things build up
• make eye contact
• if you are anxious, learn to be less concerned about others’ opinions
• realize that money isn’t everything and that the American Dream is a fraud

V

• know that your kids aren’t all the same and that each one needs something different from you
• sample things — try them before you say you have no interest in them
• don’t wait for your savior, save yourself
• choose your battles, but don’t permanently lay down your arms
• treat your body as if you might just need it for a while
• recognize that you are not as important as you think (unless you are the President, a brain surgeon, or the second coming of  Shakespeare)
• spend less time worrying and accept that most bad things are survivable
• be an informed citizen, learn about history and vote
• make haste slowly
• don’t accept easy answers

VI

• embrace the opportunity to perform
• every committee has work horses and show horses; choose the first role lest you look like an ass
• stay out-of-the-way of people who are bulldozers; it’s only a matter of time before they run you over
• get out of the city into nature and be dazzled
• spend time with a few members of a different faith, color, religious group, or political party and get a new perspective
• As Eleanor Roosevelt said, “You must do the thing you think you cannot do”
• do your best to ignore Ashton, Britney, “The Donald,” Kim, Lindsay, Snooki, and “The Real Housewives;” emptier lives are not to be found unless it is among their fans
• keep your cell phone off the dinner table and make public cell phone conversations as private and rare as possible
• don’t text while driving — ever
• remind yourself every day that (with luck) you are going to get old, wrinkled, and die

VII

• practice, practice, practice
• remember that this is not the rehearsal, this is the performance
• don’t be self-righteous
• get some rest
• consider whether those guys carrying signs that say “Repent, the end is near!” might be on to something
• ask yourself “What would Jesus do?” before you foreclose on someone’s house or stiff your waiter
• realize that being confused might be an opportunity to learn
• ask questions
• when you say you are going to do something, do it
• keep secrets when asked to do so

VIII

• don’t be a gossip
• recognize that a life of logic (without a counterbalance of feeling) is the equivalent of becoming a mathematical formula or a computer
• learn to be direct
• don’t have sex while chewing gum; and, for sure, don’t make it as unremarkable as chewing gum
• do one thing at a time, with all your attention
• don’t talk over others; listen when spoken to; be polite
• get over yourself
• trust, but verify
• find the poetry in the prosaic and the cool in the quotidian
• earn your life

IX

• have a good time
• meditate
• live with intensity
• be kind
• surrender to intimacy
• make your life matter
• live by the “golden rule”
• study all your life
• be an enemy of routine
• love someone or something

X

• make new mistakes
• test yourself
• swing for the fences; shoot for something big
• try to figure out where you are headed; it’s harder to get there unless you know
• learn to tell a joke
• take time to smell the roses
• keep a lid on the number of complaints you utter and the number of excuses you make
• get off the cross, we need the wood
• whether you are a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond, be sure you learn to swim
• and, to quote Studs Terkel: “Take it easy, but take it”

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The above photo of a New Year Streamer is sourced from Wikimedia Commons.