My Resolution 2014

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What is your New Year's Resolution? I have one. Resolution, according to Google, means "a firm decision to do or not to do something." In school, every end of the year, or the beginning of a new year, the composition teachers would ask the students, as if there is no other interesting topic in the world, to write a formal theme about personal resolutions. Most often, the writing instructions are phrased in the negative, like, what, in your person, would you like to change. The students are given examples such as: I will study harder, I will not cheat anymore, I will obey my parents from now on, I will not drink colas or the strong stuff anymore, I will not smoke anymore, I will not party too much anymore. It is as if the students are not studying enough, or are always cheating, disobedient to their parents, drink a lot of prohibited liquid, smoke cigarettes, and party more than school. In the minds of the students, they have to find their faults. In the minds of the students, they have to identify the bad in them, and thereby make resolutions. I did despise those moments when I have to search the bad in me. I would have liked, instead, to find the good in me, and resolve to make better for another year. If I was a basketball player, I would practice more, so my team could become champs. If I was good in academics, I'd make an extra effort to help a classmate who is behind in Math. If I was a singer, I'd serenade someone who needs cheering up each day. Resolutions are meant to enhance one's person. Resolutions are meant to make yet a better person out of the old one. I am not too old for resolutions. And this 2014, I'd like to look for a downtrodden each day and liven him or her up with a gracious compliment. A stranger to talk to each day, my way of loving my neighbor, my way of loving my self, too.