Perhaps February 1st is an odd time to write about New Year’s Resolutions.  So often this is when most of us have lapsed with ours or have just dropped out all together.  I tend to be a feast or famine type of person.  Last year I ran every single day for five months until I broke my shoulder.  Since then I haven’t exercised at all until I began Taekwondo last month after having finally been released from physical therapy.  The Grandmaster at the Taekwondo institute where my daughter and I study has everyone write their New Year’s Resolutions on a board which they will break at the end of the year.  My little one is barely five and she was proud to write her name and present it to her instructor.  I was so touched by it I took this picture and sent it to the family.  Her paternal great-grandmother (GG) said Maris was so precious, and that if she did these all of her life she would be happy.  I have repeatedly told her to always be kind, because many times in my life I have experienced meanness, as I’m sure we all have.  Maybe she remembers how much I loved my mother and how much I helped her; I’m not sure how she came up with number two.  The third is all her, as she truly wants to be friends with everyone.  I thought about my own resolutions and I am trying to accept myself the days I fail, but to keep up with the intent.  The Merriam-Webster dictionary gives definitions for “resolution” as “the act of determining” and “firmness of resolve.”  This made me realize we must first determine what it is we want to accomplish and then maintain a firmness of resolve in setting about doing it.  The 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, said, “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.”  I hope my little one and I will be mindful of this throughout this next year and resolve to succeed in our resolutions.