Rhona Canoy SO... Last day of the year this is. For calendar-minded people like most of you, time for serious pressure to repent for sins past by making resolutions for the year to come. What to do? What to do? What to do? There’s going to be some nosy person who is going to ask you what your resolutions are for the coming year. And there are going to be standard textbook answers. The kind we make every year, the kind that fail after a couple of months at best. So humor me. LOSING WEIGHT. Every. Single. Year. Which just goes to prove that I’m not the only hopelessly hopeful. But still begs asking—wh-ha-ha-ha-hy? Why wait till new year? And why lose weight? Shouldn’t the better resolution be to lose unhealthy habits? Isn’t that more forgiving? Are skinny people really healthy? Or do they just weigh less? I mean I’m on the zaftig side of the scale but my Dr. Rene A is kind enough to give me the right combination of maintenance meds to stop me from keeling over so I guess I’m relatively healthy. There haven’t been any hospital admissions or emergency room visits (except for a few cuts and bruises) in the last couple of years. I thank God for that. So one item off my list (if I ever do make one). And there’s a big party happening right after new year so the don’t-eat-that dilemma has been successfully averted. SAVE MONEY. Again. Every. Single. Year. And I’m beginning to question the practicality in that. I mean, as a resolution. It takes a lot of discipline and Yoda to be good at this. Sadly, a resolution ain’t gonna do it because the first time you see that there’s extra money, you’re going to be human and spend it on something frivolously totally unnecessary. Usually happens that way. So do you actually dream of saving? Or do you dream of getting rich? Distinguish, please. Saving is more achievable if one has a goal such as: a) saving so I can have 50k in the bank for my birthday senility celebration; b) saving so I can buy a Rolex; c) saving so my partner won’t realize that I’m supporting another family; d) saving so I can have cosmetic surgery to remove the excess weight (which of course takes care of item no. 1 so double whammy!). (For some females) GROW MY HAIR. You don’t need a resolution to do that. But be prepared to erase item no. 2. You will spend more on hair rebonding, product, and time. Losing proposition, this one. But usually this resolution is tied up with item no. 4! SNAG A LOVEFRIEND/SPOUSE. Okay, first of all... Hahahahahahahahahaha! You’re going to need more than luck with this one. All the angels and saints, all the gayuma, all the novenas in the world ain’t gonna do it. If you haven’t found one yet, you need to ask yourself why finding one means that much, and then ask the more uncomfortable question: why don’t they like me? The list goes on and the hits just keep on coming. At the end of the day, or the year to be more exact, all our resolutions are expressions of hope. What we would like to happen in our lives. Desires and goals which lie in our powers to make real. And the best part is we don’t need Dec. 31 to make them happen. So be thankful for the year past and the year to come. And be thankful for the privilege to hope that things can get better. So have the best new year’s eve and new year’s day ever, and keep it going for the remaining 364!