I'm not the type to believe in New Year's resolutions.

The leaf turning #goals and completely transformed image of one's entire persona, just for the sake of one digit moving on a calendar, doesn't lure me into the tradition of creating a set of desires I deem will create the "new me."

I do believe, however, that time is an excellent indicator of growth. I do believe that people can change by modifying their behavior and attitudes, one thought at a time. I do truly believe that every saint has a past, every sinner has a future. Within all these beliefs, changing because of the New Year is not one of them.

It's come to my attention that the reason we're often disappointed is because we have exceeding expectations. "New Year" sounds promising enough that we're so quickly inclined to forget the past to step forward into a new, reinvented future we've already designed in our minds. We forget that in order to create a rich and prosperous future, the past must be observed and all the lessons learned should be drenched out, not leaving any drops of precious experience behind. Then with those learned lessons, we could display our growth in the present to establish a promising future.

You might have concrete goals you have for this upcoming year and I have firm faith that you will absolutely kill 'em. Or you may have goals like "to be a better person," which I also have faith in you but would encourage you to ponder "what qualities does a great person have" and to try to emulate your own list. Or maybe you're like me and you don't have a list or intend on creating one and you're just going to let things fall into their respective places. Whatever you plan to do, you deserve the best so either lower your expectations or improve your reality.