New Year’s Resolutions 2011

It is simplistic and overly negative to say that 2010 was an annus horribilus for me. And for my family. As I have documented in this blog and elsewhere, 2010 was a year of significant losses, but it was also a year with some significant positives. I guess nothing is all black and all white. Good things can come from even the most negative circumstances.

Well all of that notwithstanding, I am not at all sorry to see the backside of 2010. Good riddance. I welcome 2011 and the chance to draw new pictures on a clean slate. I have thought a lot about the meaning of the turning of the year and I have some definite goals and resolutions and some heartfelt hopes and wishes for this new year.

As much as I have contemplated my resolutions, I have also thought about whether these should be public or private resolutions. Now, why would I spend so much energy wondering about this? Am I afraid to publicly commit and risk public failure if I cannot hold to my resolutions? Is it just an innate desire for privacy around ideas which matter deeply to me? If I were such a private person, would I write a blog? Is that a contradiction which gives the lie to a desire for privacy? Why not publicly commit to goals which should be meaningful enough to me that I will strive to fulfill them even if they are difficult or subject to backsliding?