For 2013, a few small repairs

New Year’s resolutions have a half-life of about 14 days. So you can’t make them just once a year and expect them to hold. You have to make the same ones every single day. Eventually, the resolutions become habits. And the habits become the sturdy lumber with which you build a better boat.

Or so I’m told. The fact that I’m writing again about New Year’s resolutions suggests that I don’t have a rich history of self improvement. I’m rowing into upper middle age with a vessel that’s as leaky as ever. But a man should keep trying.

Here then are the changes I expect to make in 2013. A year from now I hope to call up this little list and congratulate myself on a job well done.

• This year I will stay in closer touch with my family and friends. I tend to wait for people to call me. Probably would be better if it isn’t a one-sided deal. As I’m fond of observing, none of us are getting any younger.
• This year I will write every day. Even if it’s only a scrawled paragraph in a journal, or another inane blog post here. I don’t know what it is about writing. I don’t really enjoy it that much, but if I’m not doing it, I always feel I should be.
• This year, no day will pass without some small act of home improvement. Maybe a few large ones. It’s always something with this old house, and experience tells me that procrastination isn’t the best strategy for dealing with deferred maintenance. I don’t know if the house will be in better shape this time next year, but I’ll go on record as saying it won’t be any worse.
• This year, no day will pass without reading some portion of a book. And I will make a note of each one I read. I keep saying I’m going to do that, but haven’t managed it yet.
• Finally, this year I’ll move this aging body every day. Five miles is optimal, more is better, but I’ll be realistic and make one mile the absolute minimum. Distance isn’t the only way to measure exercise, of course, but I’ve found it’s the most convenient.

That’s my story, anyway, and only time will tell if I’m capable of sticking to it. Meanwhile, thanks to the folks who occasionally stop by to read what I have to say, and major thanks to the few who have contributed a bit of cash to keep this site going. You know who you are. I never expected to make money doing this, and haven’t, but it’s always nice to lose less money than I did the year before.

Happy New Year. Let’s all make it a good one. Fiscal Cliff notwithstanding.