New Year's Resolution

The year is nearly ended, this year of two thousand thirteen,

Time is upon us to begin anew, a chance to resolve to change our routine,

Perhaps this year your resolve should be more than just to lose weight.

Think deeper, there is more to change than simply your metabolic rate.

Two thousand fourteen is the Chinese year of the horse

So it is time to stampede ahead and change your course.

Give up a life filled with worry, hurry, and conspiracy theories.

Take inventory of your behaviors; make new memories and discoveries.

Where to begin with this New Year’s resolution?

With determination set out to make it a year of celebration.

Complete your schooling by enrolling again in your educational institution.

Or maybe to give up caffeine will be year twenty fourteen’s primary mission.

Do past failures annoy you and fill you with chagrin?

Do you helplessly again and again dream of the firing pin or bathtub gin?

You, more than ever, need to lament and make a forthright statement

To quit being complacent, inefficient, or impatient.

Resolve to no longer procrastinate; no more stowing away for a rainy day.

Take a trip to Santa Fe, Bombay or a Swiss chalet,

Learn to crochet or dance the ballet,

Practice until you can make the perfect filet or soufflé.

Join a wine tasting club to sample delicious Cabernet,

Create pottery from red adobe clay.

Attempt to write a colorful essay or paint a scene like Claude Monet,

Spend time each week in the woods for bird watching or simply to pray.

Exercise daily and watch the pounds whittle away.

Grow daisies for a dainty bouquet to display,

Or play a game of croquet every Sunday.

Have a field day!

The point is to live each day fully—

Get your living underway!

Examine yourself; let’s call it an exploratory survey;

The results should point the way towards your resolution—don’t do it halfway.

What is your worst character flaw--impatience, insecurity, or indecision?

Do you need to be more forthright with your determination?

And use tact when you express your opinion?

Are you complacent? Do you lack vision? 

Do you suffer repeated derailment? Do you lack imagination?

Do you ward off friendships with a sour disposition or a porcupine provision?

Take heed and make a heartfelt decision for this year’s resolution;

Strive this year for positive relationships and community contributions.

Let’s say your problem is that you are a lascivious, oblivious letch;

Your tendencies will one day have society calling you a jailhouse wretch.

Perhaps your ambitions should lean more towards religion or personal intervention

Or next year’s resolution will be prayers for a stay of execution.

Possibly your need to change is more superficial, not nearly so profound.

Are you unkempt, messy, or a slob doomed to end up at the city dog pound?

Do you cheat, steal, or sleep on the job? Do you fool around?

Clean up your act before you bottom out at the Shady Rest burial ground.

But chances are you are a person with common emotions and illusions

And you simply need to resolve to spend less money on the latest gadgets or fashions.

Save your dollars and your dimes for your old-age pensions

And prepare your soul by offering forgiveness and seeking peaceful solutions.

Organize your recycling; don’t burn your trash causing nasty neighborhood air pollution,

Be fastidious and resilient and less condescending as part of your resolution.

Have fun; take part in the occasional ridiculous adventure as opportunities arise,

But above all, make two thousand fourteen a year to be wise and perchance be worthy of the Nobel Prize!