Resolutions

I mentioned in a previous post that I might revisit New Year's resolutions and try to come up with some. I don't think I've decided to do that. Instead, here are some things I would like to integrate into my life this year.

• Hospitality. This is a big one, and I think I've got a long way to go. I enjoy having my friends over, but this is not the measure of hospitality I would like to use. This is the measure: "When you put on a luncheon or a banquet . . . don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you” (Luke 14:12-14). I feel a close kinship with Bilbo Baggins, and the opening scene of The Hobbit is the barometer I use. How do I react to receiving unexpected guests? Am I counting the minutes before they go, or am I genuinely glad to have them in my home? Do I view it as an inconvenience or an opportunity? As G.K. Chesterton said, "An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered." I'm afraid that I show a lot of favoritism in my hospitality, and I would like to be a better host. This is uncomfortable because I'm not a great conversationalist, especially with people I don't know well, but I would still like to be more hospitable.
• Service. I would like to be a better servant this year. I would like others to have no qualms about approaching me for help. I would like to serve others joyfully and often.
• Fitness. I don't like to exercise, at least when there's no external motivation. Running, to me, has never been fun. I like sports, but I'm not very good, so a low-pressure environment is ideal (a la "Bad Man's Basketball"). Because of this, I don't exercise often, and I certainly don't get much at my job (especially now that I don't have to haul Bible galleys to and fro). Still, I recognize that this is an area that could use improvement in my life, and I hope that I will try and integrate fitness into my life this year.
• Writing. What? I want to write more? Yes, this shows up on my list every year, but I would like to write more than I have. This blog is helping me to do so, but I would also like to write some more polished pieces this year. I continue to write book reviews for other Web sites, but I hope that my reach will extend beyond those this year.
• Creating. I've had a lot of ideas recently for some more creative projects (a few of which are board games). I would like to carry these, or at least some of these, to completion. It's hard because I lose confidence in my ideas so quickly, but I would like to cross the finish line with some of them, even if they're terrible. To paraphrase GKC, "Anything worth doing is worth doing badly."

You'll notice that each of these goals is fairly abstract. I'm okay with that. Any concrete goals I'll keep to myself because, well, I can.

What about you? Do you have any resolutions or things you're trying to accomplish this year?