OUR CORNER: Realistic goals set for the new year

A friend was telling me about an article she read about New Year’s resolutions with a different take on the annual appeal for self-improvement.

A friend was telling me about an article she read about New Year’s resolutions with a different take on the annual appeal for self-improvement. Not only did it give us a good chuckle, but it got me thinking.

I’m horrible at goal-setting and resolutions. I think it has something to do with my fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants, just-trying-to-keep-up-with-life way of doing things. I recently discovered through a “finding your strengths” study and evaluation this is actually a positive attribute and skill I can use to advance in life and help others. They called it adaptability.

But, back to resolutions for 2010, I resolve to:

• eat more potato chips. There are foods that are much worse for me. A bag of Lay’s these days supplies me with vitamins E, B6 and C, along with thiamin, niacin, phosphorus, magnesium, iron and fiber.

• exercise less. It’s an easier goal to strive toward, but quite honestly I’m not sure I can get less exercise than I do now.

• drink more. Water, too, but science keeps proving red wine does a body good.

• get a better tan. There was a time when I was berry-brown in the summer. I could definitely use more Vitamin D.

• pray more. I just don’t do enough.

• laugh more, especially at myself, but also with my co-workers, girlfriends and family.

• buy more shoes. I love shoes.

• eat more chocolate. There was a time when I didn’t care for chocolate. I’m changing my mind.

• listen to more music and listen to it much louder, especially tunes from 1980s hair bands when my kids are in the car and the windows are rolled down.

• kiss my honey more.

• get more sleep. This should be clarified. Get more sleep at night, not those siestas around 2 in the afternoon.

• sit and do nothing. I can’t remember the last time I laid on my back in a park and looked at the clouds.

• use all of my vacation days, every last one of them. Damn it, I’ve earned them.

• dance whenever the urge strikes no matter where or who is watching.

It’s a list full of attainable goals I think will make me a better person, and, if nothing else, add a certain dimension to make life more enjoyable for 2010.