Happy New Year and welcome back to Churchville-Chili Junior High School! The big question is how many times will you write the date as 2005 before you get used to it being a new year? I hate to say it, but when I dated this message, I wrote 2005. Oh well.

The beginning of the New Year is a traditional time to make New Year’s Resolutions. The hardest thing about Resolutions is that most of them, if not carefully selected, go by the boards in a week or two. Therefore, I am here to tell you that you need to make New Year’s resolutions that you can keep, and the only way to do that is to decide to do something that you really want to do, but have been putting it off for just the right moment.

Short-term, one-time jobs like cleaning your room are good resolution material. They are doable and they make you feel like you’ve accomplished something when you’re done. Plus, it’s nicer to live in a neat room than in a dump.

Resolutions that lead to long-term benefits, but are fun to do in the short run, are also excellent New Year’s resolutions. For example, you can decide to read a book a week for the month of January. You will expand your mind and you may decide at the end of the month that a book a week in February sounds like a great idea, too.

I believe that by making resolutions, we are reminding ourselves of how good we can really be if we just try.

Today, take some time to come up with a New Year’s resolution that you can actually do and that makes you feel good about yourself. 2006 is a long year, and you’ll have many chances to grow, but you might as well start now. Good luck in having a happier 2006.