Instead of New Year's Resolutions — a dangerous and generally unproductive enterprise — Merle Sneed, whose thoughtful online journal http://merlesneed.blogspot.com/ I often enjoy reading, turns the cliché upside-down in a post last week which begins:

What I do like to do at the end of the year is to take stock of how it went, as years go. All I ever hope for the new year is that it will be a bit better than the last. That is subjective and partially out of my control, but a guy can hope.

After counting his immediate family blessings Mr. Sneed offers a list of other things that he looks back upon with some gratitude. Among the ones that I personally would like to be able to achieve:

• I became a bit better at not obsessing over things I cannot control, both personally and as a citizen.
• I became a bit better at not craving stuff.
• I became a bit better at not allowing myself to be sucked into other people's drama.
• I became a bit less obsessive about having enough money. Just a bit though.
• I think I became a bit more understanding that not everyone sees things the same way as me.
• I have had the good fortune to become blog friends with some really smart people. Your posts make me laugh, make me think and make me smarter. Thanks.

Merle's bottom line:

All in all, 2007 wasn't perfect, but it was pretty good.

... a happy evaluation which reminds me of the OptimistCreed — yet another noble set of attitudes that I need to strive toward.

TopicHumor - TopicLife - 2008-01-03

(correlates: TwentyPercentLonger, Comments on Steely Eyed Missile Man, StatusQuoAnte, ...)