One Resolution for a New Year

Yes, it's that time again...resolution time! Normally, I'm not one to make outlandish, impossible promises to myself. My usual New Year's resolution is to drink more champagne.

As I think about it this year, I am going to suggest to you a resolution that can be pretty easy to keep, once you make a habit of it. Stop and savor. Yep, that's it. But I challenge you to actually do it. In our busy lives, how often do we pause a moment and breathe it all in?

Take the time to notice the way winter light falls silvery on the peeling bark of a tree. Stop and study the elegant buds of a beech or the fat flower buds of a lilac. Breathe in the sharp air of a cold day. Pause and savor the last ruddy glow of sunset as it glimmers behind the ink etchings of naked tree branches. Mother Nature gives us many gifts, reward yourself by paying attention to her beauty.