Making new year resolutions is no less painful than fulfilling them.

In the first place, I wonder why we make new year resolutions. Why don't we make new month resolutions or new day resolutions (we make daily plans instead)? The reason may be that a year is a time long enough for us to forget and pick up, forget again and pick up again the resolutions we have made.

But it's really hard not to get the resolution urge on New Year's Eve. By making new year resolutions, I can at least make myself feel less guilty about what I did (or what I did not do) in the past year.

This time I used the Internet. After browsing some websites, I found some New Year resolution candidates that were highly recommended by nearly all the websites.

Exercise more. Ah, This has nearly become a cliched slogan. But based on many historical experiences, I know that if I put this one onto my new year resolution list, then the real resolution for me will be to figure out a way to keep this resolution.

Get in Shape. This one is closely related to "exercise". It is not a good idea to include it in my list, either. What shape indeed? Square? Rectangular? Triangular? Although if the shape is oval I will be only too glad to include it on my list.

Be Happy. Oh, this resolution is terrible. First how could anyone suggest this as a new year resolution candidate? If "be happy" is degraded into a new year resolution, it will indicate nothing but that some guy must have spent the whole of the past year being unhappy. What is more miserable than reminding oneself to be happy on every January 1st and leading a consistently unhappy life for the rest of the year?

Second I don't think this could be called a resolution. We are not happy naturally but we resolve to be happy; we are determined to be happy - "I must be happy today. I must be happy next year. Or I will not be fulfilling my new year resolutions!"

Feeling happy is a natural process. If it can really be a new year resolution to be achieved through effort, I really want to put it on my list. Unfortunately I am afraid this one, as well as many others, could only be a new year wish rather than a new year resolution.

Make More Money. Is this really a resolution? Do we have to make up our minds to make money? Isn't it that in today's world we bear or are compelled to bear this "3Ms" in mind every minute? Certainly there is really no need to include this on the new year resolution list.

Quit Smoking. Wonderful. I'll take this one because I never smoke.

Eat healthier food. This one is fine! At least, it is much easier to fulfill than taking exercises. But I think I will have to make some changes and write on my new year resolution list "Eat Safe". It is not difficult to see that beef reminds you of mad cow disease and chicken reminds you of poultry flu.

And besides these two kinds of meat, what else can I have? Snake? Baloonfish? All these exotic meats would be worse, for it reminds me of news reports on animal carriers of the SARS virus. Actually, it would be best to write on my list "be a vegetarian" in the new year.

Get rid of one of your bad habits! Ah, this is what I really need for my new year resolution list! I have so many bad habits that I just cannot wait to get rid of some of them. But which bad habit in particular? I have had those habits for the past 20 years. It is really hard to be confident that I can make a change in the new year.

But one bad habit may be easy to get rid of in next year: making new year resolutions.

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