The week between Christmas and New Years is pretty relaxing for me. The kids are home, all the planning and prepping is complete, and aside from a couple returns, the shopping is thankfully over. Leftovers make for a few easy meals. Things slow down enough to allow for some moments of introspection. Maybe that helps us with the opportunity to make a New Year’s resolution. Periodic resets like resolutions are good. Whenever we can take a step back and reassess our routine, we are provided an opportunity to make a change for the better, and to pull ourselves from the inertia of a monotonous routine. Even light-hearted resets such as No-shave November and Sober October are effective in pulling us out of routine. The wonderful thing about being pulled out of routine is, however small or temporary, what we do becomes more intentional.

One thing I’ve become more aware of lately is the importance of living or acting with intention. It’s all too easy to float along without giving thought to daily activities, but without thoughtful intention, there is likely less awareness and less purpose. To my way of thinking, a day lived without intention, awareness, and purpose is a day not fully lived. My goal is to have as many of my days left on this planet to be truly lived.

The second part of my existential journey, and the part that is my New Year’s resolution, is to be more present. It may sound trite, but I’ll explain. Life is busy. The choices I’ve made have made it really busy for many years now. As it has become busier, I have found now, many years later, that I frequently was not fully “present”. I would commonly be engaged in an activity with a person or group of people, but a second and third track of thought would be running in the background of my brain. Although the interaction was certainly genuine, I believe by simultaneously thinking about what I had to do next, and by always being aware of time, I wasn’t giving 100%. This ties in with living intentionally. I’m convinced I can live my best life by being present and intentional.

Next, as Monty Python used to say, “And now for something completely different”;

Since I have my own New Year’s resolution to be more “present”, I thought I’d give some helpful recommendations to others for theirs.

North Dakota Republican Party: focus more on principles, and less on protecting the people in power.

North Dakota Democratic NPL Party: focus more on common North Dakota citizens, and less on virtue signaling.

Governor Burgum: try to keep the flag at full-staff more days than it is at half-staff.

North Dakota’s US Senators: vote less often for increased spending and making our debt worse.

North Dakota state legislature: set a goal and create a plan to eliminate the income tax or the property tax.

President Joe Biden: enjoy some quiet time with a blanket and Netflix. Tell them to stop making you go places and do stuff you don’t want to do.

Federal Reserve: put the Ouija Board away. Consider ending yourself.

Liberal big cities: Re-fund the police. Give a stick to your friend, and tell them that the next time you come up with such an idiotic notion, to promptly whack you over the head.

Dr. Fauci: you’ve done…a lot. This is a great time to retire.

Aaron Rodgers: new haircut

It turns out making New Year’s Resolutions for others is a fun, albeit tad bit snarky activity. I’ll let you add a few of your own.

Happy New Year!