It’s January 1st and the world is sleeping off hangovers, scarfing down chips in front of a football game, or going to barbecues and picnics. (Well, in Florida we can get away with the New Years picnic. It might be harder up north.) But everyone is also starting the day with resolutions – those yearly goals that somehow don’t ever get through the first week of the new year.

I’ve been in education for a while now, and so my year has never run from January to January. I get a 10 month year from September to June and then this whole “gray” area during the summer that doesn’t really count for anything. I mean, it counts as summer, but it is usually spent preparing for the coming September or recovering from the last June. Usually it’s a little of both.

So even though I’m technically in the middle of my year, New Years is still a new beginning and  I usually make the requisite resolutions along with the rest of the world. In fact, I am sure my resolutions are similar to 99% of other resolution makers: Go to the gym. Make friends with salad. Be more patient. Smile. You know, all the platitudes.

I definitely have all those in the back of my mind. I have them all year. Every Monday, I think.

This has been a trying year in a lot of ways, and so I think I need something stronger than resolutions to get myself psyched for 2013. I’m going to take a cue from Neil Gaiman and compose my own New Year’s wish for myself. It might not be as articulate and magical as Mr. Gaiman’s, I know, but it is from my heart. And you can feel free to make it a wish for you as well.

May this new year illuminate the path that you should take and may you have the strength and courage in yourself to follow it. May it be a path filled with excitement and wonder and may the rough patches not dissuade you from your course but instead encourage you to overcome them and strengthen your resolve. May you keep your dreams in sight and your eyes focused on them all the time. May your aspirations become reality and may reality take the shape of your dreams and hopes.

It will be an incredible year.