The Compulsory New Year's Post

New Year's Resolutions.  I do make them.  Call me naïve or idealistic, but I make them most years and try to live them out at least until mid-March or early April if I'm lucky.  I think last year's resolution was "be a neater person".  I'm not a slob, but my room does tend to become a habitat for pilus cluttericus, which reproduce until I put my foot down (usually on something prickly) and declare I've had enough.  The whole room gets straightened and pilus become an extinct species. 

2012.  Two thousand twelve.  2x1000 + 1x10 + 2x1.  What does it have in store?  What should I resolve?  When I think of resolutions, I think of John Wesley.  The man took his resolutions seriously.  To me, they're kind of a sentimental Western world annual rite of passage.  I'm taking part of a tradition with hundreds of thousands of other people.  It's similar to how I feel in an airport, a sort of kinship with people who have stood barefoot in security lines with me... but I digress.

I don't think this year will have a resolution, but as is the flavor of the day, I am picking a word.  Last year, my word was buoyant.  It's a pretty cool word to spell, and I like the word picture - not always on top, but always bouncing back.  It means I don't have to be in a great mood or successful all the time, but it means nothing will keep me from living the full life. 

Ready for this year's word?  It came to me tonight as we were wending our way through the desert on the way back from a little ranch nestled between cottonwood and mesquite groves.  Our family always spends the day with friends at their grandpa's ranch.  On the way home, it came to me.  This year's word is…

FIGHT.

I know, it's not a soft, dreamy-eyed word, and it's not usually associated with good things.  Well, it's the word of the year, and here's why.  Life's a battle.  There is no neutral, no sitting on fences.  I want to... 

FIGHT

      for

kind and honest communication in my relationships

the underdog

a healthy understanding of who I am

the Gospel to be heard

a balance between work and rest

an understanding of the world

a life full of art, music and dancing

future generations

concise, engaging writing

a life filled with the power of Jesus

fearlessness

Happy New Year,

Little Miss Sunshine