It's time for the annual New Year's Resolutions.

Some people scoff at the tradition or choose not to make annual resolutions for some other reason. I guess most people figure they can just make goals and changes throughout the year, as/if necessary. I like having a bunch of resolutions to come back to a year later, to smile or laugh at how little or how much I've actually accomplished.

RECAP of 2002:

Dropped:
Rollerhockey
Ripped fuel
Drinking to get drunk
Living in oblivion (aka wallowing in the haze)
Living with the boyfriend
Having a boyfriend
Wearing makeup
Keeping AIM logs
Saving sent email
Repression
Searching for the Truth
Kissing strangers

Picked up:
Clarity
Singlehood
My anti-drug
Blogging with the audience in mind
Smoking "socially"
Clubbing solely for the music and dancing
Spending more time with family

Best nite: Summer houseparty
Worst day: Moving Eric/Cyberfest fiasco
Worst nite: June 4
Best decision: to leave Dave
Worst decision: (tie) to take two the first time, and to drop the 2nd time

Even without having begun my travels or paid off my debts or found the career of my dreams or settled down with a life partner, with all the things I've seen and done, realized and let go of, I can easily say that 2002 has been the BEST YEAR of my life. It tops 1999, the former title-holder.

I know and like who I am, and I know who I want to be. I know what I really need and what I don't need. I don't have all the answers to the biggest questions, but now I know I don't need those answers to live and to live happily. Whether by grace of God, pure luck, or sheer will, I am going to live on into 2003!

2003 RESOLUTIONS:

* Improve my memory. My memory and speed of recollection have gotten noticeably worse this year. (Can I blame drugs and alcohol?) Sometimes I feel as if I have twen-age Alzheimer's. I gotta stop it from getting worse by actively exercising my brain. I need to start learning again.

* Learn general world history. I never cared about history in the past. But I now realize what it can do for me. I can travel within the past. And with a better working knowledge of the the past, I'll be able to understand, evaluate, and appreciate current events better ... and find the relevance of the past and the current to my life.

* Learn a new instrument.

* Create something beautiful and moving, that captures and conveys who I am and how I feel... if only for myself.

* Weigh 115lbs or less. Lose 10lbs of fat and gain about 5lbs of muscle.

* This. Or better yet, live a more blogworthy life. Spend less time in my inner world, and more time observing and learning within the world we share.