New Year's resolutions are tough to keep and often tough to make. With this in mind, try mine. They are simple and easy things to do each week. I challenge you to do just 10 things from the list that are different than what you normally would do.
Resolutions may be corny to some people but they give discipline to us and they also give us something to look forward to. Plus, we feel so good when we accomplish them. Do your best with these 52 or with just 10.
Week 1: Take a few minutes and name the 52 people that have been most influential in your life. For those that are still around, sometime this year, send them a card thanking them for their support and friendship.
Week 2: Count your blessings. Count all the things that are meaningful to you. Make a list of them and put the list in one of your favorite books.
Week 3: Read at least one book on the New York Times best seller list.
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Week 4: Eat in a restaurant you have never been to before.
Week 5: When you go through a fast food drive-thru, pay for the car behind you.
Week 6: If you have never done so, read the Pioneer online. Better yet, take out a subscription to the Pioneer.
Week 7: Fix a picnic lunch and eat it inside in February or March.
Week 8: Get out of the house, visit one of the art galleries or the historical society museum.
Week 9: Bake an apple pie.
Week 10: Visit a shut-in.
Week 11: In one week, keep track of all of the wildlife you see. (Humans don’t count.)
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Week 12: Donate to the local Boys and Girls Club.
Week 13: Watch a Hallmark movie.
Week 14: Watch a high school sports activity or listen to one on the radio.
Week 15: Try not to eat any sweets for a week.
Week 16: Do at least one exercise every day for a week. If you feel better because of it, keep on doing it.
Week 17: Take out a photo album and look at it. If you have lots of photos lying around, put them in an album.
Week 18: This week, be an extra special listener.
Week 19: Do something this week that you have been putting off.
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Week 20: Invite some friends over to dinner or just for dessert.
Week 21: Send someone a birthday card.
Week 22: Buy yourself a new pair of shoes.
Week 23: Start a new hobby.
Week 24: Make someone smile.
Week 25: Clean out a closet, the basement or the garage or your junk drawer.
Week 26: Lose five pounds this week, or gain five pounds, whichever is the healthiest.
Week 27: Make a vow to pay off one credit card.
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Week 28: Take a drive in the country and admire the good looking farms.
Week 29: Eat at the best cheeseburger place you know.
Week 30: Don’t forget to schedule an annual physical.
Week 31: Tell someone your 10 happiest memories.
Week 32: Clean out the refrigerator.
Week 33: Don’t watch TV for a week.
Week 34. Don’t drink any pop this week and drink more water.
Week 35: Take a walk in downtown Bemidji. It has many quaint shops.
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Week 36: Don’t eat out this week.
Week 37: Give some sweet rolls to someone.
Week 38: Learn something new this week.
Week 39: Call someone you haven’t talked to for several months.
Week 40: Give a box of candy or basket of fruit to some first responders.
Week 41: Play a board game or play some cards.
Week 42: Every time you think a negative thought this week replace it with a positive thought.
Week 43: Don’t procrastinate this week, just go ahead and do it.
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Week 44: This week avoid technology.
Week 45: Visit someone in a rest home.
Week 46: Do something that in the past has always frightened you.
Week 47: Create a prayer to say every day in the morning and in the evening.
Week 48: Make sure you have at least one hour for yourself every day.
Week 49: Join a service group.
Week 50: Invest more time with your friends.
Week 51: Fast every other day for a week and only drink water.
Week 52: Identify five things that are not on the list and exchange them with five on the list.
Riddle: What do you call an old snowman? (Answer: Water. You better add "make a snowman" to your list of things to do.)
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Kids are more likely to graduate when they begin to realize the importance of finishing things they start. Adults need to model this behavior.
John R. Eggers of Bemidji is a former university professor and area principal. He also is a writer and public speaker.
