by Ann Major

Created on: December 23, 2011

As another new year looms around the corner, and with it, numerous New Year resolutions to be made, I continue to be cynical. I rarely make resolutions as I feel they are feeble attempts on my part at self-improvement. As many of us know, self-improvement can sometimes be self-eluding. As such, the only resolution I have made for the incoming year is to stop procrastinating, and finally get together with my best high-school friend. Someone I have not seen for probably 30 years.

We all know self-improvement is a highly individual thing, and like most people with problems, we first have to admit we have one. Outsiders tend to be more focused on needed improvements than we ourselves. Until the day a person sees that light bulb turn on, it is a moot point. Unless, of course, if someone is rude or candid enough to point out those foibles, drawbacks, or definite flaws to your face and now you realize there is room for adjustment.

I tend to think New Year resolutions fail, and attempts at self-improvement are elusive because the act itself means baring one's soul and exploring a person's deepest fears. If we were to improve one aspect of our lives, it would also imply exercising a certain degree of self-discipline that appears to be the biggest obstacle.

I find the older I get, the lazier I become, and it is easy to blame the lack of motivation on ennui and old age. Truth of the matter is, the more years we have lived, the more we become set in our ways. Self-improvement implies change, and for people like me, it takes time and energy to instigate any kind of change. I like staying in my comfort zone.

For the masses, when it comes to self-improvement, there is one area where we all could do better, and that is personal relationships. The most important aspect of social interaction is the one that is most neglected, and mostly taken for granted. We forgive our friends their transgressions more than we give to family members, parents and siblings alike. Self-improvement, in this case requires tolerance, forgiveness, and much love. These ingredients are hard to come by, especially when life conditions change: friends and family move away; people die; bad things happen; then we find it is too late to make things right.

On a personal basis, I would like to do better in the area of interpersonal relationships. I am also realistic that miracles will not happen overnight, as emotional walls took a lifetime to build. It might take another similar lifetime to tear down. For

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