Happy New Year!

Every year I list ideas to help readers be intentional about enriching their new year. Here’s my 2012 version: . Visit a friend who moved away. . See an ocean. . Donate your used cell phone to charity. . Plant something. (I plan to re-try on the basil the 2011 Texas summer killed.) . Switch from one less healthy to one more healthy option. I'm thinking less red meat, more fish. . Make a plan for Bible study. I like anything by Crickett Keith at bible.org (free). . If married, read a book on improving communication. I love Mike Mason’s The Mystery of Marriage. . If you have kids, read a book on parenting. . Write regularly to the child you support overseas. . Read aloud to someone. . Catch up on your magazine reading—then take your stack of used mags to Half-Price books or a re-sale book store. . Choose one book from the best-seller list and order it. . Choose one classic and read it, too. Have you ever read Uncle Tom’s Cabin? . Take a class. Want to learn to cook French food? Go for it. Learn Photoshop? Do it! Write for publication? Find a teacher who'll assign deadlines. . Take everything out of your freezer. Make a list of all you have and figure out a plan to use it all before expiration dates. . Write a letter to a public official saying something nice.. Make somebody breakfast in bed. . Clean your closets and donate last year's (decade's?) fashions, including jewelry, to an organization that can use them. . Go local. Read a local author; visit your farmer’s market; patronize one of your town’s family-owned restaurants; switch from a bank to a credit union. . Donate unused books to your public or school library. . Donate old eyeglasses to an organization that can use them. . Replace plastic water bottles with a reusable bottle. . Put bags in your car so you won’t need more plastic next time you go grocery shopping. . Befriend someone who thinks totally differently from you. Ask lots of questions and really listen. Try hard to understand. . Soften your tone. If you can’t stand Mitt Romney, read something he’s written and try to see his point of view. If you’re a complementarian, read an egalitarian book with an open mind. . Load into your MP3 player some songs outside of your normal category. A polka number? A hymn? Some Turkish folk music? The Eagles? I just added 10 songs from the "Majors and Minors" TV show. . Read a book (or listen on tape) on the history of China or scientific findings since Mt. St Helens erupted or a graphic novel—something about which you know little to nothing. If you can get a friend to do it with you, all the better. . Attend a lecture. . 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 Milton’s “On Blindness"? Or something by George Herbert or Emily Dickinson? . Resolve to take one photo per day. Select a theme for 2012. Doors? Trees? Faces? . Make a plan to get out of debt. Tell someone and ask him or her to help you stay accountable. . Plan ahead for baby showers, birthdays, and weddings. What would you give if you didn’t have to rush? . Turn your cotton remnants into pillowcases for the homeless. Or send them to me so my sister can. . Write a letter longhand and send it by snail mail. . Take a walk through your neighborhood. Stop to chat with anyone you find outside. Share other ideas you have!