(originally published December 31st, 2005)

I don’t usually do New Years resolutions because I tend to believe that every day is another opportunity to begin anew. Still, I found myself with time this weekend, and I’ve spent most of today going through all the paper, manuals, and magazines in my office, discarding more than half of the items because they were cluttering up my space. There’s something that comes over you that makes you feel free and open whenever you can clear out a lot of waste from your working space.

While doing it, though, it made me think of other things I might need to clear out of my life, or space. I’m one of those folks who tends to try to hold onto relationships, no matter how minor, even when I’m not getting anything reciprocally. I presently have a friend or two from as far back as elementary school, which isn’t easy to do when you’re a military kid, traveling from place to place. But there are other friends, nay acquaintances, from much more recent times, who I continue to reach out to, but don’t hear anything back from them.

I figure it’s probably not that they don’t care, but that they don’t have the time; man, have I learned that lesson from this year. It’s hard keeping in touch as much as I did before I started going on the road as much as I have for the past two years. Yet, I still do keep in touch. I write the occasional email or letter, and even pick up the phone and make a surprise call, both personal and business.

But there comes a time when we all have to decide what we’re going to put our energies to. And so, the next step in cleaning my life up before the new year comes upon me is looking at all those names and addresses and emails, business and personal, and discarding those who I know aren’t going to try to reach me any time soon, or far. As it pertains to business, why hold onto a business card when you can’t remember the face it was attached to? If you can’t remember whether you got it 3 months ago or 3 years ago, isn’t it time to let it go? Same with friends, or acquaintances. If you’ve sent Christmas cards two or three years in a row and haven’t heard word one back, or have sent email time and time again and not received any responses, even bounces back from supposedly bad email addresses, it’s probably time to let go. The memories will always be precious, if they were meant to be.

For me, the action may just be timely, but it’s necessary. What about you; what clutter are you ready to take out of your life as you head into 2006? Stay safe everyone.