Obligatory Post

And here we are, bringing a rapid close to the year of 2010. This year has been quite a journey for me, and I'm sure for you all, as well. We're now at an end of it, for better or for worse, and we all are out to party with friends, or be with our family, or even staying at home with a loved one, ushering in the New Year together in a sentimental way. However you all wish to spend it, I hope it's safe and awesome for you.

This has been quite a busy year. In the past 365 days, I have gone through a good bit, and a surprisingly small amount of it was bad. I have seen myself go through some serious attitude changes. I have become more responsible, and dependable. I have written more in this span of 355 days than I have in three years combined. I have also met some of the coolest people ever.

Now, I'm not sure how anybody reading this traditionally spends their New Year's Eve. I'm not very big on tradition, as any member of my family will tell you. It's not that I'm necessarily a scrooge, but I don't really understand why tradition is important. While that could be a post in and of itself, that will have to wait for another time (though, more likely, the idea will float off into the ether and cease to be). Tonight, there's one particular tradition that's on my mind, and that's the tradition of the Near Year Resolution, or as I like to call it, the Annual Lie.

Every year, we all set these resolutions for trying to be a better person. We are all constantly striving for that one thing that we think we really want. Some of us even go so far as to pray for it... The problem is, I don't think that we're asking for - or about - the right things.

In my experiences, real change doesn't come from some arbitrary desire to stop a bad habit or some misplaced desire to right a character flaw. These are good things, don't me wrong, but I don't get why we want to change these things for the new year. Why not start addressing them as you become aware that these are real issues? Why the procrastination?

Listen: I'm not saying that you're all lying to yourselves. I'm not that arrogant. But I can't help but to wonder how many of you have actually kept your promises to yourself. I also wonder if you were really making the resolutions for yourself, or were you doing it for others?

You can't really expect to change if it's for someone else. Not by any substantial means, anyhow. The only reason for you to change is because you really want to change. So before you all go about making these resolutions half-heartedly, I urge you all to think about who the resolution is really for. That's all I ask.

I'll shut up, now. I didn't want this to be a long post, but I couldn't help but to get on my soap box for just a minute. Here's to intoxicating ourselves to levels not only unreasonable, but also potentially unsafe.

Cheers.