Looking back, looking forward: the same resolution (Jennifer R. Hubbard)

For the past few years, I’ve made the same New Year’s resolution: To do less. To hurry less and worry less, to stop rushing and overcrowding my schedule.

And this year, I actually managed to do that, although I didn’t cut back to the point where I feel that I’m getting enough rest, enough alone time, enough leisure time.

So it will be the same resolution for 2013. This is the kind of resolution it’s a pleasure to make. I look toward the new year not with the dread of having a thousand commitments, but the anticipation of having more time to do right by the commitments I’ve already made.

It’s the kind of resolution that requires me to say “no” a lot. Which is not always easy to say.

I don’t say “no” to everything, though. I’m not entering a hermit cave. Some of what I drop is replaced by newer things: opportunities I’ve worked for, things I’ve always wanted to try. Like almost everyone else I know, I’m seeking that ever-elusive balance.

Happy New Year.