MY NYR: Have fun.

December 28th found me at the top of a mountain, a snowboard strapped to my feet and a mild bewilderment wandering through my head. I've been talking about learning to snowboard for ten years. Ten years! There was never enough time or enough money or enough snow or enough friends. There were always a dozen excuses and logical reasons and other things that needed to get done. But here I was, finally, staring down at a long, twisting trail of snow below.

You see, I've always been the responsible one. There's the rebel and the smart one, the one who won't grow up and the one that gets by and the one that no one talks about. And at first glance at me-- pink hair one day, bleached blonde the next; desk littered with Hello Kitty paraphenalia; a fiery temper and a fierce aversion to stability --you might think that I could be any of those others.

But, I'm not. I'm the responsible one. The one that worked day and night in high school to get the scholarship. The one that worked night and day in college to pay the rent. The one that worked two jobs and freelanced on the side after graduation to make ends meet. The one who had to set an example and do things not just right, but perfect, the first time.

But we all know the fable, the cliché story that strikes a chord, cliché or not-- "No one on his deathbed says, 'I wish I had spent more time at work.'"  A new friend asked me the other day, "What do you do when you're not working?" and, horrified, I realized that I didn't have much of an answer. Slowly, over the years, I've been able to allow myself the luxury of "free time."  But this free time has come with a boggling dilemma: What am I supposed to do with it?

For 2007, I have one resolution: have fun. Find things that make me happy. Do more of the things that made me happy before I took the weight of the world on my shoulders. Hike and camp and spend entire weekends on the beach. Trade in the sensible car for a convertible and find every beautiful stretch of road between here and Canada. Put a little less in savings and a little more into life. Find things to do that take me out of my comfort zone and make me laugh, even if it's at myself and whatever absurd thing I'm doing at the time. And find interesting people to join me on my adventures, wherever they may lead.

This resolution put me at the top of that mountain. I had a friend by my side, a beautiful day and no choice but to give it a try. So I did. And I fell. A lot. I laughed hysterically. I looked absurd, strange and just plain silly in turn. I challenged myself and learned and tried and fought and, at the end of the day, wanted to do it again. It was small-- just one afternoon, with a lifetime of afternoons still to go-- but it was a start.