So, I’ve been thinking about posting my New Year resolutions, but I only have three so far:
1. Lose weight — I want to lose 20 pounds because I recently gained weight and my clothes are too tight.
2. Work on relearning Hebrew — I am really weak in Hebrew and have to spend some time relearning it so I’m going to continue translating Genesis. Also, I’m a little rusty on Greek and need to work on that as well but I’m taking Acts and Paul so that will help a lot.
3. Cleaning out the toy/computer/junk room so that my husband can use it as a den/TV room/office
I’m sure I should probably say something spiritual like, read the Bible more or pray more or be more like Jesus but that’s a given, right? Along those lines, here’s a link to Jonathan Edward’s list of resolutions.
Is anyone else working on their list? Here’s a list of the common top ten resolutions. And if you really need help, you could take this quiz. I put in “lose weight” and I got this list:

Your New Year’s Resolutions

1) Get a pet pig 2) Eat more nuts 3) Travel to Mexico 4) Study artificial intelligence 5) Get in shape with pilates

Relearn Hebrew elicits this:

Your New Year’s Resolutions

1) Get a pet pony 2) Eat less onions 3) Travel to New Zealand 4) Study communism 5) Get in shape with pilates

Updated to add for the Carnival:I decided to add, read some of the books that I have on my “to read” list and to accomplish this goal, I joined the Chunkster Challenge. Hopefully publicly listing the book I intend to read will help motivate me to finish them.
I think that these goals all boil down to discipline, I want the discipline to do the things I don’t want to do. I want to lose weight but I don’t want to give up chocolate though I’m hopeful that I’ll want good health more than I want chocolate. I’ve been able to do it in the past, hopefully I can do it in the future as well.
I know that some people don’t like to make resolutions they won’t keep but I like to look at the new year as a fresh start, a time to reflect on what I wanted to accomplish and didn’t and a renewed commitment to do so. If I give up and allow myself to face the new year with the expectation that nothing will change, then I take away the hope of never growing in areas that I really need to grow in.
But the most amazing thing is that even my failures lead to growth. I know my pitfalls in dieting, in fact I’ve become quite the expect in how not to lose weight 🙂 and now I can help others (like my husband and kids) to avoid those pitfalls. And each time I relearn Greek and Hebrew, it reinforces what I was originally taught. My failures lead to growth.

“Growth begins when we begin to accept our own weakness” Jean Vanier

Not by learning to live with our failures but learning that it’s a struggle, one that I haven’t given up on.