Viva la Resolución!

Happy New Year! It's time for Resolutions! Get me a pen and paper! A pen to stab anyone who asks me for resolutions. Paper to stuff in their mouth.

Or, I could do something more worthwhile, like picking lint off my sweaters.

Resolutions, I believe, fall into three categories. And I don't even like to categorize. But I see them thus:

Socially acceptable; These are the ones we talk about to our friends and family so we don't sound like we're total losers. Includes the standards like, losing weight, stop smoking, eat healthy.

Professional; The ones all the business consultants insist you need to succeed. To look like we know where we're going, we lay them all out, realistic or not. We have goals, lots of goals, long range, mid range, short range, monthly, weekly, daily, hourly.

Goals of the soul; The ones we actually care about, but won't tell anyone. Except a stranger in a bar, drinks optional. But these goals are the hardest to nail down. Probably because it's things we don't even tell ourselves. But if we did get these right, I think a lot of other goals and resolutions would fall into place.

Do I sound like someone who doesn't make resolutions? Yeah, I suppose. I'm not good with written goals. I'm okay at writing the list. I'm just not good at getting it right. By the time I'm done, it doesn't look like me.

So maybe this year I'll try again. Not to nail down my goals, but to let them surface. Because I think the most genuine goals are the ones that you can't quite articulate. They'll come out if you listen to a different voice, not just the one in your head, but the one in your soul.