You know, it's been a week since Rosh Hashanah. In the week between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, you're supposed to really do some self-examination and think about what you can improve.

On Rosh Hashanah, I was thinking, you know, this time next year, I'd like to be a better person. I'd like to look back on today, and know that I succeeded in that. That I worked on being a better person, and I did it.

Then I was struck by the fact that some people consider Rosh Hashanah to be Jewish New Year. Like the whole "Jesus wasn't really born on the 25th of December" thing, people argue that it's not *really* the Jewish New Year, but, similarly, I don't think it really matters. I think you're allowed to celebrate Jesus' birth, or a new beginning, and the actual date it happens on is not really that big of a deal.

So, I thought, hey, I've just kind of made a New Year's Resolution.

The thinking went on, "You know, by this time next year, I will almost certainly be thinner than I am now. Usually, when we make New Year's Resolutions, they're about being thinner, or stopping smoking, or drinking less alcohol. Things that, in the grander scheme of things, really aren't all that important."

"Next year, by this time, I honestly probably WILL be thinner. But I almost certainly WON'T be a better person, because that's much harder to accomplish."

All of this time I spend on achieving weight- and fitness-related goals...and all the while, the really important stuff just goes by.

I start programs, set myself goals: This week, I will get to the gym three times. Then I go to work and say something nasty about someone, or get less done than I should.

This year, I'm going to try harder. Next year, at this time, I would like to be a better person.