Try mid-year resolutions

When you really think about our customs and traditions associated with the New Year, they are pretty silly. People stay up late, drink too much, gather at Time Square by the millions where they will have no access to bathrooms after the drinking too much, and stand in the cold to wait for a giant glass ball to fall out of the sky.

Those of us lucky enough not to live near Time Square might do things like run outside and bang pans, or shoot guns. (If you think it is silly standing outside at midnight in NYC, try Vernal, Utah. I think the idea is to make noise. Okay.

I am also skeptical of the practice of making New Year's Resolutions. Especially if you resolve to drink less after drinking more the night before.
Mostly, I figure that if you are serious about changing your life, you don't put it off until January 1. You start working on the problem as soon as you identify it.

Waiting for the new year to decide to make some changes wastes a lot of time.
And I don't think there is a day near the end of December when everyone figures out that they need to make some changes, unless there is a balance-the-checkbook-after-Christmas day.

By the way, whoever thought to put Christmas in December, anyway? It is also pay-your- property-taxes month, settle-your-church-contributions month, fill-the-propane-tank month and the month of some other big expenses which I am too tired to think of right now. If you insist on having a legitimate New Year's resolution, you can have that one—figure out how to be prepared for the month of December next year.
I guess you could start whenever you figure it out.

I actually ran across an article online that began this way: “A new year can be a great time for a new beginning. The past is behind you. Start anew. Set some goals you would like to achieve. Making New Year's Resolutions can be the first step to self-improvement this year.” The article's headline was “Making New Year's resolutions is a great way to begin a new year.” (And I thought an article had to be a little bit original.)

So since I have a rebellious streak and don't do New Year's resolutions myself (unless I figure out sometime near the end of December that I have a problem), I thought I could suggest a few for the rest of you. Don't worry, I have had to start on some of these at various times of the year and more than once as well.

1.Lose some weight, but only in the right places.
2.Get out of debt, at least by December.
3.Learn how to use your tablet, especially if you got it for Christmas
4.Recycle, unless you have a problem with it.
5.Shovel someone else's snow. The timing is right.
6.Eat dinner together with the family. You can start over every day.

Okay, that's enough. Let's keeps this manageable. As soon as you have completed one resolution, add another. You will have a head start on all your friends since you don't have to wait until 2012 to begin.