Pondering the Resolutions for 2008

I've been brainstorming for weeks now. This is my favorite time of year because you can start fresh, make changes, re-invent yourself. Ten things seems like a lot to have on the list, but I feel like all these things are important to me right now.

New Year's Resolutions for 2008

1. Make do or do without (Buy nothing new)
2. Ride my bike more than I drive
3. Create more and consume less
4. Practice yoga daily
5. Walk the dogs daily
6. Think about running again
7. Write everyday
8. Give more and expect less
9. Embrace kindness
10. Listen with my whole heart

Strange set of resolutions, I know, but they are a work in progress...I am a work in progress. I'm trying to put my beliefs into practice--bringing together all the things I read about and know to be true.

Our lives are already so simple, yet I fell the need for even more simplicity. We really are rich in all that we have, we have everything we need. Now it is just a matter of realizing the difference between needing and wanting. I find that I am surrounded by too much "stuff"---and I hate that word, it says both too little and too much. Generally when someone uses the word stuff they are being lazy or trying to conceal exactly what the "stuff" is and it just says too little. When I use the word "stuff" here I mean all the unecessary, unwanted crap that clutters our lives and in this sense it means too much to list.

I like my resolutions in this SIMPLE form better:

1. make do
2. ride
3. create
4. practice
5. walk
6. think
7. write
8. give
9. embrace
10. listen