Last year I only had one new year’s resolution: Seize the day. This year, I was once again planning on having one. However, I soon had two resolutions I couldn’t decide between and then I realized, “Hey, it’s okay to have two.” So, I have two New Year’s resolutions this year. Here we go!

Number 1: Smile. It’s a very simple resolution, and one I think I can keep. It’s very important to smile. It makes you more approachable, it makes you look more confident, more friendly, more positive, more everything. The act of smiling can even make you happier.

Number 2 is a bit more esoteric, I guess you could say, although I feel like I’m using the word incorrectly. Let me elaborate: It’s more out there, harder to understand — not the type of resolution the general populace tends to make. My resolution: Every move is a killing move.

To understand my resolution, you must compare it to sword-fighting. It’s an analogy. Let me present to you an excerpt from The Book of Five Rings: “First of all, when you take up the sword, in any case the idea is to kill an opponent. Even though you may catch, hit, or block an opponent’s slashing sword, or tie it up or obstruct it, all of these moves are opportunities for cutting the opponent down. This must be understood. If you think of catching, think of hitting, think of blocking, think of tying up, or think of obstructing, you will thereby become unable to make the kill. It is crucial to think of everything as an opportunity to kill. This should be given careful consideration.”

This resolution is an evolution of my old seize the day resolution. This one is more focused, more on target. This resolution does not allow the seizing of whims. It’s goal-oriented rather than day-oriented. Every move is an opportunity to make the kill, so to speak. Thus, it forces me to commit to making the kill in the first place. It forces me to choose a goal. That’s why I can’t seize whims.

One last thing. This is not a New Year’s resolution. This is just some general commentary for today. From The Book of Five Rings: “When fighting enemies, if you get to feel snarled up and are making no progress, you toss your mood away and think in your heart that you are starting everything anew. As you get the rhythm, you discern how to win. This is ‘becoming new.’ Anytime you feel tension and friction building up between yourselves and others, if you change your mind that very moment, you can prevail by the advantage of radical difference. This is ‘becoming new.’

So, I’ll forget all my old troubles of 2005. I’ll focus on my new resolutions. I’ll have faith that I can accomplish all that I want to accomplish. I have not messed everything up beyond hope. I can still make the kill. On this first day of 2006, I become new.