In spite of my abhorrence of New Year’s resolutions, they are ricocheting through my mind ever more often as the end of the year approaches. Willy-nilly, I find myself promising all sorts of things to myself, and thus it is high time to put my promises into words. Predictably, all of my wishes have to do with my habits. I am especially concerned with my bad habits, which I want to get rid of. At the same time, I want to acquire or buttress good habits in their place. The sooner this is accomplished, the better.

Most important, I want to write less. Much, much less. This has been a record year in terms of both the number of pieces and words written. To be a bit more specific, this particular year I wrote nearly as many pieces as I had written in the first twenty years of my magnum opus. Similarly, I wrote nearly as many words as I had written in the first fifteen years into it. Amazing, indeed. This appears to be a magnificent result, but I see it rather differently. And I do not wish it to happen ever again. Year by year, I want to write less and less.

Next, I want to follow the news ever more rarely. There are nearly ten online newspapers I browse through from day to day. This annoys me no end by now, and I wish to stop doing it. More important in this context, I want to stop commenting on the news. The bulk of my pieces of writing fall in this category as of late. Although I have stopped writing letters to editors of several newspapers, it is time to stop writing all sorts of commentaries, as well. In a few short years, I wish this habit to be eradicated completely.

Not surprisingly, the time gained by dropping these bad habits I wish to dedicate to yoga and nothing but yoga. Sadly, my writing has started interfering with my practice. The more I write, the less I practice. Returning to regular yoga practice is my main goal in the next few years. This is the crown of all the above resolutions. Write less and less, but especially in response to the news, and practice yoga more and more. These are my resolutions in a nutshell. If it takes a moronic occasion such as a new year to put them into words, so be it.