New Year’s Resolutions from H E Double Hockey Sticks!

My last blog for 2011.  Another year comes and another year goes.  It happens once a year on this very day.  It’s a day to review and a day to look ahead.  When we wake up in the morning after all the celebrating, January 1 is after all, just another day.  What if we lived without calendars?  Wouldn’t tomorrow be just another day? Think about it.

Like most people today, I’m thinking about my new year’s resolutions:  How can I change? What can I accomplish? What can I do better?  We all make these general new year’s resolutions like losing weight, becoming a better person, making more money, volunteering a little more, or even becoming a better spouse.  By the third or fourth week in January, we’ve crashed our diet, we are still the same person, we aren’t making any more money, we are still selfish with our time, and we continue to treat our spouses the same.

So then, I think. 2011 was a brutal year. Without a doubt, one of the toughest years ever for me and my family. Even after all of the trials and tribulations with very few triumphs, I am still blessed beyond measure and I have so many things to be thankful for. I am one lucky man.  So, why go through the hassle of making any resolutions when I’m just happy to be where I’m at today.  Why bother? Why set myself up for another failure? Haven’t I experienced enough failures already? I think the reason why we make resolutions goes back to one of my previous  blogs.  We conform.  Everybody makes resolutions on December 31, so I guess that I have to make resolutions too.

My resolutions are actually going to be my goals for 2012.  In my little black book, I have a quote from one of my favorite authors, Earl Nightingale.  He says, “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal. If a man is working towards a predetermined goal, and knows where he’s going, that man is a success. If he’s not doing that, he’s a failure.”  Earl is right! We need goals, we need something to look forward to everyday.  We need those resolutions!  This is what I’m working towards in 2012.

1) Take my wife out on a date a least once every other week. That’s 26 times in one year. Once a week might be unrealistic and it might be broken by the 3rd to 4th week in January but I believe once every other week is attainable. Just she and I. No kids. I think a double date with close friends or distant family members might be fun once a month to keep it interesting and entertaining.

2) Take one long weekend trip with my wife. Somewhere she wants to go.

3) Run the Atlanta Marathon on Thanksgiving Day. This will help me with the losing weight resolution that everyone sets and it will get my mind and body back in tune. I will  feel better, look better, and it will be the exercise that I need to stay healthy.

4) Run the Disney Half Marathon with my son in January 2013.  The next day run the Disney Marathon and complete the Goofy Challenge. I have exactly one year to train for it.

5) Write at least one blog a week. That’s 52 blogs for 2012.

6) Read at least six books this year. That’s one every other month. I’ve already identified three books that I want to read already. Read my Daily Bible everyday. I’ve done it twice already and I need to do it again.

7) Take a weekend trip with my daughter. Somewhere she wants to go within reason. My wife is right. I haven’t spent quality time with her like I do with my son. I enjoyed our day trip to the SEC Championship a few weeks ago. It was fun.

8) Do at least, two SCUBA dives this year!

Well, there it is folks. It’s set in stone. It’s starts tomorrow, January 1. The Resolutions from H E Double Hockey Sticks!