Maybe you’re going to lose weight this year. Firm up, as it were.
You resolve to develop a craving for green things and an allergy to sugar.
You’re going to go to the gym at least five times a week and by the time the hot sun shines again on glistening bronze bodies strewn across City Beach, you’ll look like a million bucks.
We’re happy for you. If your goal is to become healthier, there’s no more important pursuit for physical, mental and emotional benefit than getting plenty of the right kinds of exercise and eating sensibly. But if it’s all about looks — well, best of luck with that.
While we all work in 2017 to improve our health for all the right reasons, here are some alternate resolutions you might consider adopting.
• Get a library card.
• Disallow cellphones and other electronic gadgets at the dinner table.
• Use your vehicle’s turn signals every time you turn.
• Anonymously buy somebody’s coffee once a month.
• At least once a week, take a walk with someone you love.
• Practice deep breathing when stress mounts.
• Seek out a written opinion or viewpoint contrary to your own at least once a week.
• Recycle more.
• Read at least one book a month.
• Find a way to volunteer. If you already volunteer a lot, enlist at least one other person to volunteer.
• Make at least one donation to a nonprofit every month, even if it’s a can of food for the food bank.
• Limit binge TV watching to once every three months.
• Turn off the TV more often and replace it with music.
• Attend at least one civic event — school board or city council meeting, for example — each quarter.
• Write at least one letter to the editor this year.
• Smile more often.
If all of this seems overwhelming or ridiculous and you resolve to do just one of these things, smile more often. It’s better than looking good on the beach.