What are your New Year's Resolutions?

Happy New Year Everyone!
Here we are - entering 2015!  Can you believe that?  The other day I was reminded of something pretty funny.....in one of the "Back to the Future" movies, the characters (Marty & Doc) were taken ahead in time to the year 2015!  I don't know about you, but those movies don't seem all that long ago, yet here we are in 2015, a year that not so long ago sounded like something from a science fiction movie.  It is true, we've arrived here one year at a time, but still it seems unreal sometimes how quickly time passes.  If for no other reason than that, we must embrace it (TIME) and make the most of it.
When people talk about the new year, they often talk about New Year's Resolutions.  I'm not big on them, in fact I don't make them, at least not the kind most people make.  I do ponder changes I should make, or goals I'd like to accomplish, but I don't like being bossed around (even by my own standards).  So I find I do better with less pressure and more realistic expectations.  When I think about resolutions, rather than the typical ones like getting exercise and eating healthy (which most of us need to do), I think about things of a more practical nature.   Perhaps we should resolve to be more patient on the highway, or in the supermarket.  Maybe we should resolve to listen more and complain less.  Maybe we should resolve to spend less time on Facebook and more time in the company of our loved ones.  Maybe we should resolve to text less and talk more.  Maybe we should resolve to judge less and support more.  Or how about we resolve to enjoy what we have instead of always  wanting more.  Along those lines, we could all practice more of an attitude of gratitude, and with that it couldn't hurt to get back to the days of handwritten "thank-you" notes that are sent using snail mail.  What if we all resolved to care about someone else as much as we care about ourselves?  What if we spent less time looking in the mirror and more time looking into the eyes of our kids or our elderly relatives?  What if we resolved to watch less TV and spend more time enjoying nature?  Just think of what might happen in our lives if we adopted even a couple of these resolutions?  What if we actually resolve to put others first, do for others first, and have the courage to remove ourselves from our own little, self-centered worlds and socialize again?   I think the results would be astounding and rewarding!  I think the world would be a kinder, gentler place if people made more of these sorts of self-improvement resolutions rather than the ones we typically hear about.  Instead of staring at a screen, get together with friends.  Have a face-to-face conversation with your neighbor, visit a shut-in, take a drive.  While social media has done a great job of reconnecting us with old friends, it has also done a great job of replacing social gatherings with texting and messaging.
This is what I propose we consider for 2015.  Resolve to stop looking down at a screen and get back to looking up - into the eyes of people you care about.  Resolve to spend time with the people in your life while you have the chance.  Explore that hobby you've always considered.  Write your memoirs.  Label old photos and put them in an album. Share your family history with your kids.  Save some money.  Read a book.  Practice kindness instead of criticism.  Communicate to people their worth.  Tell loved ones how important they are to you!  Say "I love you".  Where your heart on your sleeve,  no matter how vulnerable it makes you feel.   Say "Please" and "Thank You" and mean it. Instead of going Back to the Future, go back in time to a simpler life, a time when modern conveniences and social media didn't rule our lives.  Call me an optimist, but I think the world could be a better place if we all considered a few of these resolutions. 
When researching quotes for today's post, I came across this one - which I find very true:

"When once we begin to form good resolutions, God gives us every 

opportunity of carrying them out" 

- St. John Chrysostom

So, here's wishing you all a happy, peaceful New Year filled with gratitude, love and contentment shared with the people who make your world complete!