New Year's Resolutions

Every December, I make a long list of things I want.  This isn't a Christmas wishlist, but a several-page list of New Year's Resolutions.  The list is impossibly long, and some of the items on it are irreconcilable.  I want to travel the world, to keep a spotless home, to garden, to write, to save lots of money for retirement, to throw fabulous dinner parties, to read all the books, to be a better wife/sister/daughter/friend/lawyer/driver/pianist/baker/Scrabble-player.  I always want this to be the year I finally sew myself a designer wardrobe, become fluent in five languages, run a marathon, and put an end to all the injustice in the world.  And so I end up making a list with literally hundreds of resolutions.  Twelve months later, I've inevitably achieved at least some of them ("find a job," "make bread from scratch at least once," "don't end up in the emergency room") but nevertheless discover these accomplishments haven't changed me into that person (witty, fearless, intellectual, tireless, fun, gracious, healthy, talented, vibrant, extraordinary) that inspired me to make the resolutions in the first place.  At the end of the year, it turns out there are never enough hours in a day (nor, I suspect, in a century) for someone as unfocused and tired as me to transform life into perfection.  But, as Elder Holland said in our sacrament meeting a few days ago, that's ok... the point is to keep trying.

Between launching into my career, becoming a home owner, and adopting a dog and two cats, 2012 brought a lot of new responsibility, so I'm mostly just hoping I'm up for the challenge.  Here's to 2013.  Whether or not I end up traveling to a foreign country, kicking my 3-a-day bottled water habit, or making a cheesecake, hopefully twelve months from today I'm a better person than I am today and, more importantly, that there's at least a little bit more happiness in the world because of my efforts.

Given that one of my resolutions this year is not to kill anyone, I'd better wrap up this blog post before things get any more suffocatingly cheesy.  Happy New Year!