New Year, Same Old Resolutions?

So here I am again, back on the blog wagon. I'm sure you (yes you, my one fan!) noticed I dropped off the face of the blogosphere for quite a while. Well, now I'm back and I'm ready to try again. After all, it's a new year, and that means resolutions, right?

Truth be told, I don't have the greatest track record when it comes to resolutions. Over the years I've resolved many times to lose 10 lbs., quit drinking caffiene, workout more, paint more, write more, etc. Most of these last all of about three to four weeks. Well, some of them anyway. At least the ones that involve the price of a gym membership or a treadmill.

So this year, I'm making only one resolution: to stop making resolutions. After all, what are resolutions but campaign promises to ourselves? We've just come off the excesses of the holiday season (or the previous administration), and we promise ourselves if we will only believe in ourselves, we'll be different this time. We'll be wiser, stronger, more dedicated to our betterment. But alas, at the end of the day, or month, or election year, all we're left with is the same old thing. Eloquent promises and pretty packaging are unwrapped to reveal an empty box.

So what's the answer, then? Do we just sit down in self pity and give up? No, I don't think that's the solution. For me, the solution is what I choose to put in the box. If I really want a better me, a better country, a better world; then I need to dig deeper than the packaging and bows and external trappings. I need something of real substance, eternal truth, to put in the box. I need to seek and support others with something real and substantive in their boxes too, who will challenge me to keep mine full. Otherwise, an empty box will just become trampled and crushed over time, and ultimately discarded.

So here's to filling our boxes with that which is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely and of good repute; all things excellent and worthy of praise. Here's to a new year, a fresh start, and mercies that are new every morning.