To Resolve or Not

I've been asked on a couple of occasions about my New Year's resolution for 2011. I usually stumble over a few words and then end up telling them that I've never been big on making New Year's resolutions, and I don't plan on starting now.

I suppose my rationale that anything worth doing (getting more exercise, dieting, have more consistent devotions, spending more quality time with the kids) is worth doing on December 27th, or as soon as I've decided that it's a good idea - why wait until the beginning of the year to improve something you should improve anyway? Furthermore, if I'm relying upon a calendar date to spur myself to do some self-reflection on ways that I can be a better husband, dad, son, colleague, Christian, etc. I'm probably not self-reflecting as much as I ought to. If I come up with a brilliant way that I should improve myself in March, I'm not going to wait nine months to implement it.

There's also the reality that New Year's resolutions, at least for me, tend to be quickly forgotten and abandoned. I've yet to see people place New Year's resolutions in the form of Microsoft Project or 16x11 poster which is plastered to their wall. Most are spur of the moment musings that are off-the-cuff answers while holding a glass of brandy or sitting in front of your New Year's Eve dinner plate after a relative has ambushed the family with a "Let's go around the table and share what your New Year's resolution is." By the time the holiday revelry, post-holiday cleanup and transition back to the everyday grind pass, these resolutions have fallen to the 17th-ranked item in the priority memory bank.

In fairness, there's nothing inherently wrong or ineffective about New Year's resolutions - they just don't particularly resonate with me. Of course, I could challenge myself by saying, "The reason why I avoid these resolutions is that I'd prefer to have amorphous improvement goals without any accountability to achieve them." To which I quote Homer Simpson: "You tried your best... and you failed miserably. The lesson is: never try."

So thanks very much, but I'll stay the course with my continued mediocrity in all phases of my life, with any improvement being completely unintentional and coincidental.