Resolution-schmesolution

Did I make a New Year's resolution this year, you ask?  Why, no, I did not.  Sometimes I feel like it would be a great idea; most of the time I don't even have enough will-power to think about what I would/could want to "resolve."

After contemplating how another New Year's Eve has come and gone, I got to thinking about what really makes a new year.  New years start all the time in my life and what is it that makes us all feel like January 1 is THE day to resolve, change, and start over? In my life, my new years include...

January 1: The obv.

February 12: This is the day I wait for.  All. Year. Long. (just ask my husband).  This is the day I celebrate my birth, the start of another year older, and another new adventure. 

May 1:  The day I celebrate the start of another year of "engaged bliss" to my (now) husband.  On May Day 2005, I was given instructions to a park in our college town, guided out onto a dock, and asked to be a wife. 

May 6:  Though just 5 days after one of the happiest days of my life, May 6, 2005 has been the saddest of my life to date and it marks the start of another year without him.  It not only has been the saddest of days I've ever known, but it has also led to the most pain I've ever felt.  This is the day I lost one of my confidants, friends, and mentors: my Grandpa.

May 13:  2011 will be the first year of annual celebration of this day for our little family.  On this day in 2010, our little Lydia joined our family.  At 12:09 p.m., we'll celebrate the start of Lydia's second year of living.

July 16: In 2002 on this date, I met my best friend.  This date in 2011 will mark the start of our ninth (NINTH?!?!) year of knowing each other.

July 22:  This date holds double meaning.  This year will mark our ninth year of dating; it also marks our fifth wedding anniversary.  The start of this fifth year of marriage has to mean something great is in store for us.  Not only did we make it past the "newlywed" stage, we're also half-way to a decade of wedded bliss!

Sometime in August each year:  Every year, I begin a new school year.  As a teacher, it's just as new and fresh as it was as a student.  The start of each new school year is marked with new students, oftentimes new classes, and new challenges. 

Even though January 1 marks a new year on the calendar, all of these other dates throughout the year which start new years for me more define me than the first does.  What makes a new year?  I think a new year is marked by those dates in each person's life which define and start the person anew. 

So, I guess if I change my mind about the whole "let's make a resolution" game, I have a few other chances throughout the year!