Whether the goals are big, small or in between, the editors, writers and bloggers at ThirdAge love to come up with New Year’s resolutions. Here’s what we’re hoping to do in 2012. What’s on your list?
Sondra Forsyth, Senior Editor:
My New Year's resolution is to spend more time enjoying the cultural riches of New York City. When my children were young, we frequented the Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art. We went to the Cloisters and the Bronx Zoo, and the Aquarium, and the Botanical Gardens. We saw Broadway shows and we went to the ballet and the Little Orchestra Society concerts. We never missed the circus, or SummerStage, or Lincoln Center Out of Doors. And that's just the short list. Yet I haven't been treating myself often enough to experiences like those now that the kids are grown and gone. That is going to change in 2012!
Jane Farrell, Senior Editor: I want to write a book!
Catherine Avery: My resolution is to get more “me” time. It has always been difficult to live up to so I will be more specific this year by saying that I will spend more time playing golf and not feel guilty about it.
Joni Cole: My New Year’s resolutions are to: Have fun; have more fun; make more money; be a positive, loving person, and stop swearing. Do I intend to keep my resolutions? Hell yes! (It’s not 2012 yet so I can still swear!)
Cecelia Fielding One of the Zen blogs I subscribe to recently advised against setting goals, which appealed to me. I usually make the same vague resolutions (Lose weight! Exercise more! Be kinder to everyone!) and by mid-February, I'm angry with myself for not making any progress. If if we live carefully and mindfully, the blog suggested, we can grow in many areas and avoid all the negative self talk. So, no resolutions this year — but I am going to clean out a couple of closets next week. Happy Holidays to all!
Jami Floyd: I always keep my resolutions. But I make them on my birthday, not on New Year’s. That way I am sure to be sober!
Barbara Greenberg: To read more for pleasure.
Joan Heilman: My New Year's resolution is to learn now to "hang out," do nothing much, relaxing and enjoying just being alive in the moment, without always thinking there's something I should be doing.
Margo Howard: To be perfectly honest, I've given up making them. With the ThirdAge comes the wisdom to know they don't do a damn bit of good.
Suzanne Levine: I made mine on the Jewish New Year, Yom Kippur. To not waste time - playing solitaire when I could be reading, puttering when I could be seeing friends. I think of a quote on a coffee mug I have: "Every day is a gift. That's why they call it the present."
Eve Marx: I resolved earlier this week when I was making my New Year's resolutions to never get another animal unless it was from a rescue or from a shelter; today I went to make a donation as we do every year at our local SPCA shelter, and I came home with a 7 year old Chihuahua who had been plucked from death row at the city animal control kill shelter in Manhattan by a vet tech who fostered him for two weeks before bringing him to the SPCA in Briarcliff. He's so tiny (about 4 lbs) that he's sitting on my desk on a little rug right next to my computer. We've named him Rinaldo. My primary New Year's resolution for many years has to make the lives of unwanted animals better. I am glad I was able to make a difference in this little guy's life so quickly.
Maggie McReynolds: As a newly single woman in midlife, my New Year's Resolution is to learn that I can process and overcome issues and challenges by myself; I don't need another "grown-up" in my life to fix things for me.
Jeri Sedlar: My resolution is to NEVER USE THE WORD "SHOULD" AGAIN. I either want to do something or I don't and I won't. So no more shoulds for me!:)
Tina Sloan: I make LOTS AND LOTS of resolutions and that way at least a few -usually the creative ones -are kept. I write them down and check them during the year to see how I’m doing.
Robin Westen: I have three resolutions this year, and since they are pretty tough and I am a work in progress -- they are the same ones I had last year. Check back with me at the end of 2012 for a progress report. Here they are: Forgive everyone. Pay attention. Appreciate my husband more.
Judy Kirkwood: Here is a New Year's poem I wrote years ago. I revisit this every year instead of making a list.
January 1
Wrestling things
onto the calendar
it is clear
that our days are numbered
and incomplete.
I almost forget
that the nights are long
for dreams infinite and divine.
And that the door
I see even in sleep
opens always
to the beginning.
