I have been thinking long and hard about what my resolutions for 2009 will be. I started thinking back to resolutions of years past, and realized that every year mine have been very restrictive.

Eat less, shop less, exercise more (okay, that isn’t a “less,” I guess) – but the gist of it is that resolutions are almost always presented with some negative, looming sense of radical change that almost inevitably leads to failure.

Lately, I have been focusing on changing my life for the better. This is the theme I am going with in terms of my goals for 2009. My primary goal is to live a good life, so why not resolve to add more happiness to my life instead of merely stripping myself of things I like?

One of my favorite phrases of late is “let’s not try to boil the ocean.” My method for self-improvement is definitely going to come in the form of tiny, regular additions to my life that I will take note of and enjoy as I go.

Things I plan to add more of:

Interesting, delicious and healthy foods (You get it. I will not do anything ridiculous like vowing to eliminate pizza.)

Time with people who care about me too

Quality time with my kids and family (Art, books, games, interesting discussion)

Art and photography projects of my own

Learning

This should make New Year’s resolutions much more achievable, don’t you think? What do you want more of in 2009?