The Year of No Resolutions

Motor cross biker leaping off a huge ramp with a deep blue sky behind him.
Motor cross biker at the Alameda County Fair in July 2022.

As I mentioned in my prior post, I have a longstanding habit of writing New Year's resolutions each year (no later than the first business day of January) and then in December, reviewing those resolutions to see how I fared. I went looking for last year's resolutions, and much to my surprise, found that I had started a post and never published it. In fact, I didn't even write any resolutions down! The post was titled "Intentions" so I must have been drifting away from the idea of "resolutions" toward a practice that is more about my hopes and, well, intentions. I even wrote about that decision in my 2020 review.

In any case, it turns out to have been a pretty good idea to not write anything down because if I had, I might have been constrained in what I could achieve. I did achieve a lot this year. I published a book and several articles. I started teaching a class at Berkeley Law. I traveled a lot and saw lots of old friends. I spent lots of time with friends and did good parenting. We got the beach house I've been dreaming of since I was a kid (now we need to furnish it). Our country had a bout of sanity in the election and lots of decent legislation passed that makes me feel like grown-ups are in charge and the future is better now than it was a year ago. 

Despite the obvious value of not making resolutions, I do have a few things in mind I'd like to work on in 2023. Maybe "work on" is too strong a phrase. There are some aspects of my life that I'd like to reconsider and then see if reconsideration was beneficial when next year rolls around. 

I hope you find the framework you need to become happier in 2023. Happy New Year!

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