Resolutions for Twenty-Ten

My partner and I were sitting in a restaurant in Rome on December 31 with 2 of his friends, and he made everyone go around to talk about his or her resolutions for the upcoming year. When my turn came, I admitted that I hadn’t really thought about my resolutions for the year. I told him later that I lived most of my life meeting deadlines and goals (usually met…a few by seeking extensions, like when I was half-way through my dissertation writing when my dissertation clock’s alarm was about to go off), and I didn’t want to live with deadlines or goals anymore.

Now, I realize, it makes me sound like a total slacker. However, what new resolutions would I actually need to list that I haven’t listed in New Year’s Eves past? I think I could boil all those resolutions into these few, simple bullet points:

• Be a good person.
• Don’t take yourself so seriously.
• Exercise and eat right, but save room for the occasional scoop of ice cream or slice of cheesecake.
• Love big.
• Clear the clutter.
• Save some money.
• Be happy with what you have.
• Be happy with who you are.
• Be thankful.
• Be kind to others.

I guess this would be my list for this year, except that these are things I try to do everyday. I guess I don’t think of them as resolutions. I think of them as my life’s guiding principles, most of which I fail to uphold most of the time. (Then again, I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so maybe I’m doing better than I think I am.) But try, I do, and continue to try, I will. As the years go by, as I keep chipping away at this list, I’ll become a more perfect, imperfect moi.

Have a great 2010, everyone!