Happy New Year

For some reason, I spent a couple minutes staring at the title to this blog entry. The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if it should have an exclamation point after it or not.

Am I excited about it being a new year? Not really. To me, this day is naught more than a free day off. It really doesn't mean anything to me. I've never been one to reflect on what went right and what went wrong during the previous year. Sure, there are always going to be ups and downs--That's the way life is. Some will be minor and quickly forgotten (unless you're a blogger and can read about it), and others will be major, life-altering experiences.

I've never made resolutions that I know of. I think that when someone makes a New Year's resolution they are already halfway to dooming it to failure. Why? Look at it this way: When someone quits smoking, they have a much better chance of quitting when they do it the instant the urge or spark or idea hits them. If they say, "I'm going to quit just as soon as I finish this pack." or "I'm going to quit just as soon as I finish this carton--They're so expensive you know." or even worse, using a target date; "I'm going to quit smoking next week." When people make resolutions on New Year's, they are already dooming them to a high failure rate simply because they aren't making the resolutions for themselves--They are making them for the holiday.

Hmm, what did I accomplish last year... First of all, I didn't set any goals, so did I really "accomplish" anything? How would I know if I had? I live my life by the seat-of-my-pants method and rarely make goals. That's probably why I have accomplished so little in life. I like to think I enjoy life, but do I really? I know with no goals I am free to take any fork in the road of life that looks interesting. Pretty selfish way to live really, but it's who I am.

Will I accomplish anything in the upcoming year? I don't know. There are many things I have been putting on my mental "to-do" list, but I'm such a procrastinator will I do them?

So back to the title of this post. If I put the exclamation point on it, I would be exuberant about the New Year. If I put a period on it I would be doing a "ho hum" about it. Punctuation can mean a world of difference. Instead I decided that I would leave the punctuation empty, and in honor of that I created the appropriate smiley face.

I'll just take the year as it comes like I always do.