New Year, New Decade, New beginnings, a New Way of Life

Happy New Year to everyone! As we look forward to a new year and a new decade, most of us resolve to improve our lives by making new year's resolutions either to quit bad habits or addictions, or a change of lifestyle for the better.

The year that's behind us seem to have gone so fast and the economy gone downhill and the only item going up was unemployment. And with that, we've had to adjust to a new way of life.

The author, H. Jackson Brown Jr. compiled and created over 500 axioms of counsel and personal observation that he hoped would provide a road map for his college bound son. Here are a few that seem particularly appropriate for us all to add to our new year's resolutions:

1. Complement 3 people every day.
2. Look people in the eye.
3. Say "thank you" a lot.
4. Live beneath your means.
5. Never refuse homemade brownies.
6. Surprise loved ones with little unexpected gifts.
7. Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring and integrity, they think of you.
8. Admit your mistakes.
9. Make it a habit to do nice things for people who will never find out.
10 Always have something beautiful in sight, even if it's just a daisy in a jelly glass!
11. Pray not for things, but for wisdom and courage.
12. Never waste an opportunity to tell someone you love them.
13. Never eat the last cookie.
14. Call your mother.

Added to my own list: Be more informed about your government to make sure that democracy prevails and our freedoms preserved not taken away by the government.

Here's to a joyful, peaceful, and hopeful new decade.
Happy New Year!