Seven Most Popular Resolutions

Whether or not you "make" resolutions, there is something about the fresh start of a new year that beckons us to "try, try again." So even if we have become jaded by our past failures to the point of refusing to make any formal resolutions, most of us, if we're willing to admit it, at least have some secret "desires," "goals" that we'd LIKE to accomplish in the coming year. If you DON'T have any goals...well, what do you hope to hit if you're not shooting at anything?

These are sort of an unofficial "compilation" of what seem to be seven of the most popular resolutions that people make for New Years. I looked at the "Top Ten" of about 5 different sites I found, and picked what I determined, in a completely non-scientific method, to be the top seven on average. Please note that these are NOT my resolutions!! I have added my comments and thoughts after each resolution.

1. Lose Weight--traditionally, I've always been underweight if anything, so this has never really made the list for me. The old metabolism is definitely slowing down now, but I think I'm still okay for this year. I think this is also probably one of the top two "quickly broken" resolutions...the other one being #2.
2. Exercise more...this one SHOULD be on my list, but I admit, it's not.
3. Quit smoking/drinking--I've never smoked, and I don't drink (alcohol that is--I'd hate to actually stop drinking anything!), so this one won't make MY list..but if you smoke, I encourage you to move this one up to the #1 spot!! Get a nice picture of the lungs of someone with lung cancer and post it around your house for a little motivation... If you drink, at least make sure that it's in moderation and that you never, ever, ever get behind the wheel after even ONE...
4. Spend more time with family & friends...well, I've never listed this as a "resolution," but I think it's an area we can all improve on, no matter how well we already do it! Relationships should matter more to us than anything!
5. Get out of debt/Make more money/stick to a budget...lots of variations on this one, but the goal in all of them is to have enough money and handle the money we have correctly. Definitely needs to be in MY top list!! I have no credit card debt, but the tons of medical bills last year have done massive damage to my financial position (and it wasn't that good to begin with!)
6. Get a Better Job (or a Raise)--I love my job, and it is a perfect fit for my skills--the raise would be nice, but I work for public transit so that's not likely. So, unless God has other plans, this one won't be on my list.
7. Help others/Volunteer--an admirable goal, certainly. I must admit this one's not on my list either, but not because I'm not interested in doing it--I guess it's more than I don't think of this as something to start doing, but just as a way of life; certainly, I could improve in this area, because I think it always helps us when we take our eyes OFF ourselves for a while...