Matt's New Year's Resolution

It’s a new year. For many people, it is a time to set personal resolutions to keep for the upcoming year. Not for many of the people I associate with – I don’t know any of my personal friends or close coworkers that set New Year’s resolutions, at least none they talk about with me. Maybe they do but are embarrassed to bring them up around me, since I’m usually one to denounce New Year’s resolutions. My attitude has always been, “If you want to do something, just do it, don’t wait around for a new year to start. Do it when you think of it.” When I wanted to start bicycling more, I started in May. Well, that may be a bad example – there is no way I’d start bicycling at the beginning of January in the frozen tundra of the Midwest. When I wanted to lose weight, I started in the middle of July. That may not be the best example either – it was a pretty hot July, and I find it difficult to eat much when I’m sweating profusely with sweat dripping onto my plate of food.

This year, I am seriously considering trying out a New Year’s resolution. Just to try one out.

I don’t think I’ll try to be a better person. I mean, I’ve learned I’m about as good as I’m ever going to get. I’m already pleasant enough, I help out others as much as the average Joe, make donations to worthy causes, and oftentimes work at trying not to annoy others. Usually. As long as they do not deserve being annoyed.

I probably won’t increase learning new things. I’m already a person who tries to learn new things on a regular basis anyway, and my jobs (both the big money one, and this low-paying writing gig) require me to stay current in the industry and current events. I read quite a bit, both fiction and non-fiction, including works I haven’t written myself. So, I learn. In fact, I recently learned, as a person, I’m about as good as I’m ever going to get.

I don’t believe I’ll need to resolve to write more. Even though I’ve taken a long break from writing essays such as this one, I’ve been writing as much as ever, focusing on short stores, as well as longer works, like my brilliant but under-appreciated (and under-published) novels.

There is no need for me to work harder. I already do the jobs of two people at work, and another one and three-sevenths of a person when writing. If anything, I should resolve to do less work at my job, but then I’d get bored, and I certainly do not want to make a New Year’s resolution to become more disinterested. And if I resolved to write less, I’d probably be doing more work at home improvements, pulling muscles, splattering paint on favorite T-shirts, and getting painful splinters, and I don’t want to resolve to increase painful and annoying things either. At least not things painful and annoying to me.

I cannot think of anything special I would resolve to do in the new year. I’m already doing the things I want and like to do. I don’t see any areas where I or my life need drastic changes for improvement.

Maybe I won’t be setting a New Year’s resolution after all.