2010 New Year's Resolutions

For all their differences, people usually agree on one thing: the previous year was a very bad year, and the new one looks better. All they zoom in on are the dark places and the difficult times they had. However, the future, too, has "two roads diverged in the a yellow wood." It's human to see the grass as being greener ahead. It's human to see the New Year as a time to turn over a new leaf and to look ahead with optimism. Part of the New Year ritual is an attempt to start afresh and prepare a list of resolutions for the coming year. “An arbitrary date on the calendar doesn’t have to have any influence on me,” I often say in my internal monologue. Then, I always give in and jump on the bandwagon and create my own New Year resolution list. This is how it came out this time:

First, I don’t smoke, I don’t drink and I don’t like junk food. So, I have no bad eating habit to stamp out (thank God). I appreciate and I am grateful for God's blessings. So my resolution is to keep up eating salad and avoiding too much meat and thanking God for giving me more health than illness.

Second, I am a workaholic and I like it. I wonder if it is something I have to fix. And fixing it means sitting at pavement café tables scrutinizing every passer-by or staying at home and watching all boring TV programs. So, my second resolution is to keep up the hard work and learn something new in the year ahead, especially in the field of computer technology – I love technology.

Third, I am thin – not slim – and have no extra kilos to shed. So, no need for long distance jogging. Maybe a few errands for my wife to the grocer’s on the corner and looking for my car in the parking lot – I am absent-minded at times - are enough to keep me fit.

Fourth, many people promise themselves to enjoy life more and pledge to scoot from their hectic schedules and lifestyles. But my grandmother – my first teacher – kept hammering me with a proverb that her parents had kept hammering her with: “A young idler is an old beggar.” If you don't work when you’re young, you won't have any money when you're old. So, my fourth resolution is: work hard while you’re still young and while you can, and rest when you’re old – or dead.

Fifth, people think time with the family comes before work. I don’t agree. Life is not an endless treadmill of chores. Let’s be more realistic: these chores are what makes this short life sweet and worth living. I need to work to get paid to bring bread to the table. No work means no money, no food, no clothes, no education for my kids, and no life. So, my fifth resolution is: I’ll try my best to balance my work and family responsibilities as much as I can. Because I love my family, I love working to provide for them.

All in all, Happy New Year 2010. I miss each and every one of you. I miss America; the land of order and law. The land of opportunities and freedom. I love Morocco and I hope its political leaders who have failed to live up to their election promises to set a list of resolutions to improve it economically, politically and socially.

My last wish though is I hope this New Year 2010 brings lots of good things our way all. Amen