2010 Resolutions?

I've struggled with this post (and it's a couple of days late) because I really don't know what to do for resolutions this year... 2009 was the first year I ever made resolutions, and putting them online turned out to be pretty good motivation, so I wanted to do it again. But I have no idea what to resolve for 2010. I could go the comedy way, but I want to actually accomplish something. So I've searched teh Interwebs and taken whatever I can find.

Squidoo comes up first on a Google search for 2010 resolutions, so I checked their article. 2010Resolutions.org has the same ten resolutions in a different order, so I figure they're pretty good ones. However, I'm a non-smoker with no weight to lose and a healthy, organized, and enjoyable lifestyle, so the only one of their resolutions is worthwhile for me.

• Resolution: Get out of debt. My wife and I completed Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University last year, and we've been steadily chipping away at our two $30,000 car loans since we started the program in February. By the end of 2010, we'll be debt free.

CNN.com has 10 travel resolutions. Again, most aren't all that useful to me, as I have a passport and I've spent the last couple of weeks doing almost nothing but relaxing. But there are two items that I'll put on my list.

• Resolution: Get a new digital camera (and use it often). CNN's actual resolution is "Take better pictures," but to do that I need to at least have a camera. I'm not talking DSLR here; I just want a camera that will survive my lifestyle. An Olympus Stylus Tough 8000 looks fantastic to me.
• Resolution: Travel. Take my wife to Italy. She's wanted to go ever since her high school Latin class trip was canceled due to September 11th. Sounds like a great idea to me! Maybe I'll visit Spain again as well. This resolution may be in direct opposition to getting out of debt (since we'll be pouring money into two pits), but I think we can do it.

On TechRepublic, I found one geek's resolutions. One that sounded good to me was to write more. The author made that resolution because he gets paid for the things he writes. While I don't, there's a lot to be gained for me from simply putting fingers to keyboard.

• Resolution: Write an actual, thought-required blog post at least twice a week. Make at least one every week related to my Bible study or quiet time.

PasteMagazine had an article titled "Fifteen Musical New Year's Resolutions for 2010," but they were just the average resolutions (see Squidoo above), but based on pop songs. But a good resolution that I thought of when I saw "Musical Resolutions," was to actually spend some time enjoying my own musical ability.

• Resolution: Play cello, outside of group rehearsal, practice, and performance, just for my own enjoyment, for at least an hour a week. Maybe even remember what it's like to hear J.S. Bach's Six Suites for Cello Solo come from my own instrument.

Lastly, I found this post on the Gospel Coalition Blog. It's based on the book The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards, which is based on the seventy "Resolutions" written by Jonathan Edwards. I may review some of the seventy resolutions in a future post (or series), but for now, I'll sum them up: as John Brookes wrote in Manliness (1875), "Openness to the Light and Love of Jesus, and resoluteness to follow them promptly, constitute Christian Manliness."

• Resolution: To spend at least an hour each day (maybe not all at once) either reading the Bible, studying the Bible, or praying. In short, I want to take my quiet time to the next level. I want to start putting into practice all the things I learned last year about prayer. I want to learn and follow His ways.