Resolved

Lindsey
I say I don't believe in New Year's resolutions, but that's pretty much a lie. What I don't believe in is making resolutions just because it's the beginning of a new year. I generally take the spring time to step back and look at what I would like to work on in my life. Something about all the green and sunshine makes everything seem possible. Still, I have resolutions that are somewhat constant, things I need to recommit to in order to stay focused. I resolve to:

• focus on what could be and not what is - there is always potential for something better.
• be happy.
  
• be less critical of myself. I sure give me a hard time.
• do my part - as long as I am trying, the rest will fall in line.
  

Miri
I don't believe in New Year's resolutions. They're unrealistic and, more often than not, are forgotten by the end of January anyway; so after over a decade of abandoned far-fetched goals, I decided to stop making them, and forgo the associated guilt. (Now I just do something fun, like give myself a number of books to read for the year. I do have goals for my life; I just don't feel like I need to make new and exciting ones just because it's January.) However--in the spirit of this post, here are some of the things I'm working on right now:

• being honest about my feelings with myself and others
  
• assuming the best about people/giving them the benefit of the doubt
• learning that what my body looks like just isn't important
  

Megan

I believe in New Year's Resolutions, but it doesn't mean I'm any better than Miri about keeping them. I just think the beginning of the year is a good time to assess what's good and what isn't in your life, and to think about what you can do to make the bad things better. I tend to make lists that are too long to really remember, but at least I'm thinking about them, right? In any case, here are a few of my resolutions for becoming lovelier this year:

• Physical: I will stop wishing I looked like Zooey Deschanel. I don't have her clothes, I probably can't pull off her hair, and neither of those things make me ugly. Also, earlier last year I was doing really well at getting a little exercise - at least some sit ups and pushups and brisk walking. I'm going to do that again. (Although the walking might have to wait until spring.)
• Emotional: I will try to stop obsessing over things I can't control. I have been better in the last few months at being happy with my life, but sometimes I forget how good it is right now because I worry too much about what happens next.
• Mental: I will spend less time watching TV shows and more time reading. I love reading, but sometimes my Hulu queue makes me think it's more important to catch up on all of my shows. It's just not as satisfying to say I've seen every episode of three different crime dramas as it is to say I finished Anna Karenina, and watching Dollhouse right before bed gives me really weird dreams.
• Spiritual: I will try to fulfill my church responsibilities without being reminded every month. I will also work on finding quiet moments; I clutter my life with a lot of noise and don't spend enough time thinking quietly, and I would like to remedy that.

We would love to hear some of your goals for 2010 as well. We hope that at least one of them is to write for this blog, because we would love to get more voices here so that we can all learn from each other.

Happy New Year!