It’s 6:52 a.m.

“It’s 6:52 a.m.,” the Boy said to his God.

“No, it’s 6:52 and a half,” God said to His Boy. “And it will never be 6:52 a.m. this November 6, 2016 again. Boy, what did you do with your 6:52?”

The Uncle Bardie Plan for New Year’s Resolutin’

To resolution or not to resolution. That is the $64,000 question.

Every New Year’s we sit down and make a list of all those bad behaviors we don’t like about ourselves. Or all those things we want to do. Then we resolve to do something about what’s on the list. That becomes our New Year’s Resolution List.

Like aiming for perfect, that is an exercise in frustration. Deep down we already know we probably won’t succeed with any of them.

As soon as we break them, it’s Humpty Dumpty all over again. Once you break that egg, there ain’t no way you’re going to put it back together again. You won’t be able to find all the pieces. And you’re left with nothing but a bad taste in your mouth.

So here’s Uncle Bardie’s Cure for New Year’s Resolution-itis. Goals.

When you set a Goal, you put a time on it. Then you come up with a strategy to achieve it. If you don’t achieve it by that time, you re-evaluate. Then re-set.

Example: I resolve to write every day in 2017. Then I miss one day. Man, what a bummer. Since I broke my resolution, I give up on the plan. If it had been a goal, my response would be, “No biggie, I will just keep trying.” Then I pick myself up and write the first thing the next morning. Miss the resolution, there’s guilt. Miss the goal, remind myself it was a goal and keep on trying. That’s the Uncle Bardie Way.