Jan. 8, 2013 — The New Year is here, 2013, a date that once sounded impossibly futuristic. We passed the ending of the Mayan calendar, and the sun rose in the morning, and the world is still spinning on its axis. Many of us are coming down from the holiday sugar rush caused by rich candy, frosted cookies and spicy Christmas drinks.

Whether our holidays have been merry, sad or practically nonexistent, most of us are glad they’re over. A kind of collective sigh settles over everything.

For the past few years my holidays have been growing smaller, with New Year’s Eve sort of the anticlimax of it all.

This year, as is my preference, I spent New Year’s Eve quietly at home and tried to keep the dogs calm when the gunshots and firecrackers went off.

Although, I’m not one to celebrate with a party, I did take a moment to step outside in the early morning hours of the New Year. The moon had just begun to wane and had that oyster half shell look about it as it frosted the rocks and mountains. Not too far away, a pack of coyotes let loose with their own wild song to greet the year. It seemed like a good beginning.

Now people are talking about New Year’s resolutions and the changes they plan to make during the coming year.

I don’t do resolutions. They seem like a sure setup for failure. Most resolutions are too vague. You want to lose weight or finish that novel you’ve been working on forever. There’s no mention of pounds per month or how many pages a day you can commit to.

Since most resolutions are about adding something new to your life, it stands to reason something old needs to go. Maybe it’s getting up an hour earlier to walk the dog or maybe it means forgoing your favorite TV show to devote time to that new craft or hobby you’ve vowed to learn.

Or we can set less tangible goals such as becoming more patient, kinder or expressing our gratitude on a regular basis.

Whatever we choose, a year is a long time to keep our resolve unless we’re willing to work on it throughout the year. Writing down goals, revisiting and revising them often helps. Even then, my guess is more resolutions fail than succeed.

Although I don’t make New Year’s resolutions, I do like to take time to reflect on what I’ve learned during the past year. The coming year is certainly starting off a lot better than last, and I can’t say I’m sorry to say goodbye to 2012.

Things can change so quickly. I still plan for the future, but I no longer struggle to hold onto something as nebulous as security. Security is not something we attain through accumulation, but something we carry with us in our hearts.