

Every Jan. 1, I resolve to stop doing all kinds of things -- I will stop eating so much, I will stop worrying so much, I will stop drinking so much Mt. Dew, I will stop spending so much money. And by the end of every single Jan. 31, I have failed to stop doing any of those things. I figure this year I should take a different tact -- this year I will resolve to keep doing, or start doing, certain things.

I resolve to continue making family my priority. I think I've always been a pretty good mama (and fairly decent, if sometimes nagging, wife!), but ever since we nearly lost our daughter, family has become an even bigger focus. Though work is important and friends are important, nothing is more important than focus on the family. I have long believed that we cannot fix anything else in this country -- debt, crime, our children lagging behind other countries in academic achievement, mistrust of everyone -- until we repair the damaged family unit.

I resolve to continue being an effective teacher. The state has entrusted me to educate children and I resolve to continue doing that without being swayed by politics, differing opinions when I believe in my heart I'm doing the right thing, or the notion that grades are more important than whether or not kids have actually learned anything. I believe that children are any country's greatest natural resource. And well-educated children ensure that a country will continue to thrive and lead.

I resolve to speak out for what is right, even if "right" is not "popular." I am sick to death of "political correctness (PC)." I think being PC does more harm than good. PC has turned us into a nation of sissies, instead of a nation of tolerant people. While PC was "invented" to ensure that everyone was treated politely and with fairness, it has, instead, created an environment where you can't call a jerk a jerk when he's being one! In this PC culture, our criminals have more rights than our victims because you don't want to hurt a jerk's feelings by pointing out to him he's a jerk. We have raised two generations of kids who think they're "great" when they have done little to show they are great (unless you consider being the most overweight, least active, least inventive, and most restless generations since the Baby Boom an achievement). In the name of politically correct "self esteem," we've become a country of self-centered cretins so full of ourselves that we think whatever we want is more important than whatever anyone else wants; we think we're so "great" that we deserve everything we want .... even if it means we don't work for it, expect others to work for us while we bleed the systems dry, or we charge ourselves into horrendous debt that everyone else works to pay for. A lot of Germans kept silent about what they saw, and look what happened.

Finally, I resolve to accept any consequences of any of the above resolutions. If my resolution to put family first would happen to cause me to lose friends, or my job, or respect from anyone else, so be it. Friends who do not understand my devotion to family (which also includes my four dogs) probably weren't very good friends to begin with. Though I love my job, I don't believe ANYONE should put work before family (not even our president). And I've no doubt my lack of PC sometimes (and, in fact, already has) results in someone wanting to argue with me. I welcome it. And I confess, I have sometimes been swayed in my opinion by someone who, much like me, was not afraid to speak her truth when she felt compelled.

While many make good resolutions that involve them stopping some behaviors, we need to remember that sometimes we need to resolve to keep doing things that make the world a better place.