New Year's Resolutions

I don't do them. When I was s kid, I'm sure I indulged. My dad was always a big fan of the New Year's celebration. That plus all the fuss in the media probably convinced me it was "the thing to do." One day I realized that it was a miracle if the resolution lasted three days, much less three weeks. Three months? The entire year? Never happened. But I do have an early January habit that is close to being a tradition. As I'm standing hip deep in boxes and Christmas decorations to pack away, I moan, "We've really got to get this stuff organized. We could probably toss half of it." Then, trying to avoid the inevitable and increase the scope of the problem, I wander around the house, looking at the drawers that barely close and the closets that are stuffed. "We absolutely have to do something about all the clutter this year." I make these announcements to an empty house because I'm always alone when it's time to take down the tree. Year after year I try. Sometimes I get enough done so that I can actually see a difference and feel quite pleased with myself. But it never comes close to being an entire room and certainly not the entire house. So the joy fades as regular life takes over. The life in which there's barely enough time to put things away, never mind in an organized manner. I have a feeling that the only thing that would work would be the system that has you dump everything into the middle of the room and make a decision about each and every item you pick up. I have a friend who did it in her bedroom. She said she's glad she did it but she'll never do it again. It was completely exhausting. I know I'd never be able to do that in one day. I just don't have the stamina. Maybe if I hired a large, scary man with a gun ... but, no. At some point I'd be so exhausted I would say, "Fine. Shoot me. Put me out of my misery." All of the organizing systems I've heard about claim one big payoff, namely, that once you get things organized, you only have to spend a few minutes a week maintaining it and you'll never go back to the mess. But I never get there. No matter how much I get done, the clutter manages to recreates itself when I'm not looking. But I'm intrepid. I keep trying. A girl's gotta have a dream.