No, the title isn’t a typo. New Year is traditionally the time to make changes, and the first things I want to change are my New Year’s resolutions. The most popular resolutions seem to involve losing weight, giving up a habit, getting a better job, making more money. They all seem to imply you are not good enough just the way you are. They are filled with superlatives – bigger, better, faster, louder, smaller, lighter, healthier, smarter, richer. They pile inordinate amounts of stress on you, causing you to deprive yourself of something – food, leisure time, booze – and you are inexorably doomed to fail and in failing feel like a failure. BORING. I’ve been there, I’ve got the t-shirt – and it doesn’t fit any more. Maybe I should lose a few pounds…. no, I’m stopping myself right there.
Calvin and Hobbes sound off about resolutions
In 2012 I am distilling my New Year’s Resolutions into one single, actionable (ooh, corporate buzzword alert) item. It is as follows:
See the Northern Lights.
There, I’ve said it. And written it. And published it. So now all I need to do is figure out how to achieve it sometime in 2012. How much fun is that? And when was the last time you were truly excited about trying to keep your New Year’s resolutions?
Aurora borealis over Norway. Photo by Ole Christian Salomonsen, runner-up in National Geographic astronomy photos of 2011.
Where's my backpack? 