New Year’s resolutions get a bad rap.

In the comments to my last post, Stephanie mentioned that she never made New Year’s resolutions before, and Danielle decided that she’s making a to-do list instead, since resolutions “have a nasty habit of being broken”.

Up until a few days ago, I was right there too. Stupid resolutions, I thought. Just going to break them anyway. Why bother?

I think the problem is, I’ve always believed that resolutions were things we decided on, to fix the ways in which we are broken.

“I will quit smoking.”
“I will start exercising and lose 20 pounds.”
“I will get organized.”
“I will get out of debt.”

Right?

The interesting thing, is that these sorts of resolutions are born out of excess.

I eat too much. I smoke too much. I buy too much, I owe too much, and I can’t deal with it all.

Right?

Now, from Danielle and Stephanie and from others all over the blogosphere, I’m also reading statements like this:

This year I will set some goals for myself.
This year I’m excited about the resolutions I’ve set. I can’t wait to begin.

Why the change?

I think to some extent the excess has been curbed. We became aware, as a society, of the too-muchness of the American lifestyle, as it all began to come crashing down on us. The excess is being cut away for us, whether we like it or not.

But before we could clutch our 401(k) statements and shrinking savings and curl up in the fetal position in despair, we were inspired by the election of a man who ran on a platform of change. Of hope.

Over and over we heard the words.

Yes we can.

To resolve:

• To make a firm decision about.
• To cause (a person) to reach a decision.
• To decide or express by formal vote.
• To change or convert.
• To find a solution to; solve.
• To remove or dispel doubt.
• To bring to an unusually successful conclusion.
• To cause progression from dissonance to consonance.

-from The American Heritage Dictionary

Yes we can.

We can resolve to make firm decisions and find solutions. To move from discord to harmony. We can take control of our own lives.

Let’s dream big dreams for ourselves. The biggest.

I’ve read articles today that say, Keep your goals realistic. Make only a few.

I disagree. I say, Make your goals outrageous. Make as many as you can think of.

Then write them down as fast as you can, before you lose your nerve.

Every time you read that list, you should be unable to resist laughing out loud at your audacity.

Aspire to achieve.

Don’t think of resolutions as things to be broken, as a sure path to failure.

Think of them as double-dog dares. Triple-dog dares.

Dare yourself to be great.

Make resolutions so hopeful and worthy and grand that the simple act of moving toward them causes you to become a person worth becoming.

Move toward your goals and you cannot remain in one place.

Regardless of what goals you meet, what resolutions you keep, you will be a better person for the attempt.

You will read that list a year from now and you will laugh. And you will be amazed at what you did accomplish.

Imagination is everything.
It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.

-Albert Einstein

Just try it.

Come on. I triple-dog dare you.

If we did all the things
we are capable of doing,
we would literally astound ourselves.

-Thomas Edison

The Monday between Christmas and New Year’s- seems a natural time to sit back and reflect on how this past year has gone.

I didn’t actually make any New Year’s Resolutions in 2008, being the sort of contrary person who refuses to do things like that; i.e. a general pain in the butt who doesn’t like to be caught out breaking resolutions.

However, somewhere in April I read a book titled This Year I Will…: How to Finally Change a Habit, Keep a Resolution, or Make a Dream Come True, and I was inspired to make some sort of goals for myself. But I was pretty wishy-washy about it; I posted them on a blog that no one read and only went back to them for the first time ever, today.

How did I do? Well, I do wake up earlier in the morning. I am less negative and hyper-critical; I find time to play with my daughter every day, no matter how ridiculous or mind-numbing the game of choice may be. I also write every day, and find daily ways to be happy.

I am still not very good at “clean-as-you-go”, or at remembering that sarcasm is not the same as humor.

But I found many ways to tread more lightly on the earth.

As a family in 2008, we totally did away with paper towels, paper napkins, and tissues, opting instead for fabric replacements. We still use paper TP, but it is Marcal, with recycled content.

We switched over to baking soda, vinegar, borax, and club soda for our household cleaning.

We began to purchase local and organic produce, and eco-friendly detergents.

We buy 100% recycled content paper for the printer.

We bought pretty much nothing new that we didn’t absolutely need.

We harvested the compost from our worm farm and used it in our organic vegetable garden.

We gardened! With marginal success!

We conserved energy in a lot of different ways.

We took part in the One Can a Month challenge and dramatically reduced the amount of trash we send to the landfill.

A lot of these actions saved us money, and we were able to make donations to charities without real hardship.

I wrote letters, signed petitions, and did what I could to raise awareness.

Most importantly, I think, we came out of the green closet.

We stopped apologizing for our treehugger ways. We stopped thinking of them as strange, or deviant; and we stopped caring if others saw us that way.

To our family, living mindfully and responsibly is now normal; it is a mindset that influences and informs our day-to-day choices, and we are proud of it.

I am no longer embarrassed by my clothes hanging on the line, or by how we decorate our house with things we make ourselves from recycled materials. I’m delighted to discuss green cleaning or native plants or the best sources of local meat with a casual acquaintance. I reveal my dozen or more reusable bags at the grocery store with a dramatic flourish. I am conspicuous. And I don’t mind.

Attitudes about green living are changing. Can you feel it?

Living lightly is no longer considered a lifestyle choice of the elite, or the dirty hippie, or the flaky granola girl, but rather one that is recognized as practical, frugal, and forward-thinking.

I think part of that change is attributable to the economy, of course; the realization that the American lifestyle as we knew it was unsustainable. Also coming into play: the emphasis that the incoming Obama team has put on climate change and renewable energy and other ecological and green collar matters; and the skyrocketing of gasoline prices that occurred earlier this year.

But I also like to think that part of it was the willingness of average people, in all shades of green, who were willing to wear their values on their sleeve.

To take responsibility, speak out, and lead by example.

Who made green less of a “lifestyle choice” and more of a “way of life”.

I have the greatest of hopes for 2009. I have new green resolutions to make.

Overall, I still want to live by the mantra of “Do all the good you can, every day that you can, in every little way that you can.”

But this year, no wishy-washy goal setting! I am working on real goals, specifics, nitty-gritties. I’ll post them here, in bold, and on other public forums. I’ll check in on them periodically and I’m counting on you to hold me accountable.

I’m excited! Are you excited for the new year to begin?
How did you do with your 2008 resolutions (if you made any?)

Happiness is a form of courage.

-Holbrook Jackson

I love it: Survey says that 47% of Americans are happier this year than they were last year, and expect to become even happier in the 12 months to come!

Why all the optimism? Look for clues in Kiplinger’s list of 12 Things to Look Forward to in 2009.

Americans feel good about the incoming administration, too: 76% approve of Obama’s transition thus far. Even more encouraging to those of us with green passions, is the reported 75% who feel he should tackle policies concerning global warming, and 84% who believe he should require electric companies to use more renewable energy.

So, how happy and optimistic are you? If you’d like to answer that question scientifically, the University of Pennsylvania has questionnaires for you to take. These include a general happiness questionnaire, a meaning in life questionnaire, an optimism test, a grit survey, and a satisfaction with life scale.

The website does require you to register, but they save your results so you can log in later and see how far you’ve come! (via Gretchen Rubin and her inspiring Happiness Project. )

If you have a few minutes to spare, check out this Steve Pavlina article, How to Make Lots of Money During a Recession. This is the sort of article I love: a meandering soliloquy, which ultimately ends in a very different place than from whence it began. Let me know what you think.

How are you feeling about 2009?

And, some pics from past Christmases, purely because I happened upon them:

My camera was stolen in early 2007, so I don’t have any photos from last year.

This was my first Christmas ever without a dog.

We missed you, Zooey.