New Year's Day, Resolutions, and Not being a Government Official

          New Year's is fast approaching, so I thought I'd make a little special post about something that interests me- New Year's resolutions. 

          We all know that feeling at midnight of "THIS IS MY RESOLUTION AND I'M SO TOTALLY PSYCHED THAT I WILL ABSOLUTELY CARRY THROUGH WITH IT", but then we actually rarely do carry out our plans. It's always fun to say, "I'm going to apply for and get that prestigious job with a huge salary!", but unless you're extraordinarily ambitious and full of self-discipline, I don't know if that will really happen. So let's try to find a resolution that we're still motivated to carry out, but isn't quite so... Out there. And remember, the more World Improving it is, the better!

1.           Write down three things that bother you about the world around you. These can range from "my room is really messy" to "my local homeless shelter may have to foreclose" to "terrorist attacks are ruining people's lives". No matter how small or how big the issues, write them down- just make sure it's something that's really important to you, not somebody else. 
2.          Under each issue, write down three things that you could do to improve it. They don't have to be insane, like "become a government official and reinvent my country's approach to (insert cause here)." Something like "donate $10 a month to the Red Cross" works too. 
3.          Look over the three things under each issue, and cross out the easiest and the most difficult. You'll be left with one medium-difficulty resolution for three important issues. This way, you can actually make a difference, without setting yourself up for failure. 

     TIP: Don't make any of your resolutions about something that makes you feel bad about yourself. "Be more popular," or "lose weight" are not only very vague, but won't help you feel good about who you are and only contribute to the Barbie/G.I. Joe stereotypes. Alternate goals could be, "make friends in my new theatre club" or "take a Pilates class at the YMCA so I can be more healthy and active". 

          I'll be sure to update you guys on New Year's with my resolution, meanwhile, have a very happy and World-Improving rest of 2013!