My minister shared this delightful set of Resolutions with us,
in January, 1988, and I'd like to share them with you.
To remember that new beginnings are actually possible.
To stop beating myself for not living up to my potential.
To be kinder, especially to the people I love most.
To jog regularly.
To stop worrying about the future so much.
To start saving money for a piece of land and a house someday.
To drink more fresh orange juice, less booze (and less Pepsi).
To stop fantasizing about what I would do if I won the million-dollar sweepstakes.
To fantasize more about how to save the church and western civilization.
To work against the evil ones of this world, and all they stand for.
To not allow my weariness and sophistication to overcome my indignation at the wickedness around me. North America is at a midnight in morality.
To lose weight and study French poets.
To keep a wary eye on my limitations, to outgrow rather than indulge them.
To, while I'm shaving (or brushing my hair) in the morning, throw a kiss into the mirror once a while. What the hell. Why not?
To not allow bourgeois conformists to make me timid, or nutty avant-gardists to make me irresponsible.
To do more of the things I love: studying, writing, dancing, singing, athletics; and less of the things I like least: worrying, stewing, envying, whining, reminiscing.
To not go into my shell when my ideas get gunned down or my feelings get hurt (or when my manuscripts get rejected).
To stay as open and radical and fanciful as I can and pay the price.
To not get mesmerized until midnight in front of some silly TV show (or computer game).
To cease grieving that my garden--with the exception of a few scrawny tomatoes--was a complete failure, no squash, no cucumbers, no peas, no onions, no herbs (exept a few grown in pots in the kitchen window); and to work on my great compost pile and think about next spring.
To remember that most people are as neurotic, unfulfilled, incompetent, lazy, and scared as I am. (Hey! Speak for yourself!)
To yell Thank You for the gift of the sun!
And to remember just how many friends I really do have!
