Resolved: Have a good new year

Some of you know that my brother in law had a heart attack over the weekend and is in the hospital awaiting a second procedure. Thanks for your prayers and emails.

This time of year we take a look at our lives and, although some go to great lengths to avoid setting resolutions, many of us will find ourselves thinking about a list of things we resolve to do in the coming year. The word resolutions sounds so passive, much more passive than the verb 'resolve' or 'resolved'. I like that word much better.

Re-solve, which is a different way to look at the word, implies that we revisit an issue to solve it, or at least work toward a solution. I don't know about you, but some of the issues in my life need revisiting. They take more than a year to "resolve"! And some are an ongoing process. When I hear people sounding like they've somehow fallen short if they have something leftover from another year, I always think "Give yourself a break!" I mean, who doesn't?

Then, of course, saying "Resolved" out loud (with the capital "r") makes it all sound very official. Resolved: I will try to be more organized. Well, it's not as official as proclaiming a new piece of legislation, but it's a start.

I'm sure we all have different things on our lists, but I'd like to end this by sharing one item that we all have in common:

Resolved: Have a good new year.