I Resolve...

A couple of years ago I listed some ideas for planning your new year. Here's my 2009 version:

. Visit a friend who moved away.
. See an ocean.
. Donate your used cell phone to charity.
. Send us the film camera you're not using. Some Kenyan pastors can use them in a microbusiness enterprise.
. Plant something.
. Switch from milk to soy or from Pepsi in the afternoon to low-sodium V-8.
. Join a Bible study. Even if you don't believe the Bible, it's the best-selling book on the planet, and many of our greatest authors use it as a literary reference. I've been re-reading Hagar's story, and I'm seeing stuff I never noticed in the past.
. If married, read a book on improving communication. Gottman has good stuff.
. If you have kids, read a book on positive parenting. The love-and-logic folks would be my choice here.
. Support at least one child in a developing country. Write regularly.
. Read aloud to a friend.
. Choose one book from the best-seller list and read it.
. Choose one classic and read it, too.
. Take a class. Want to learn to cook pastries? Go for it. Learn Photoshop? Do it! Learn to write? I still have a few openings in my spring writing class.
. Cook a complex recipe.
. Write a letter to a public official saying something nice.
. Clean your closets and donate last year's (decade's?) fashions to benefit a homeless shelter.
. Shop at a Farmer's Market. Give the local folks a chance.
. Switch from a bank to a credit union.
. Donate to a library some books you aren't using.
. Give old eyeglasses to a Kiwanis club that will redistribute them to the needy.
. Resolve to stop using plastic water bottles.
. Befriend someone who thinks totally differently from you. Ask lots of questions and really listen. Try hard to understand.
. Allow yourself to change your mind on something. If you believe in evolution, watch "Expelled." If you're a Protestant, read the Roman Catholic Church's statement on life. If you can't stand Al Gore, watch "An Inconvenient Truth" without saying anything snide.
. Go to a half-price book store and buy a CD of music you don't normally listen to.
. Read a book (or listen on tape) on the history of something like the Ming Dynasty or the Taj Mahal--something about which you know little to nothing. If you can get a friend to do it with you, all the better. If you want U. S. history, I recommend John McCullough's book on John Adams.
. Spend an afternoon at a museum.
. Do something about Darfur.
. Park at the far end of the parking lot and walk.
. Take a meal to someone in need. Not a close friend--someone who will be truly surprised.
. Memorize a poem. How about John Donne's "Batter my heart..."?
. When you order from Amazon, go through the link on this site that looks like the widget below. No matter what you buy after using this link, a portion of the sale will go to benefit our Kenya ministry.

What would you add?