While New Years day has receded into the horizon of memory, and most resolutions have fallen off the wagon, so to speak, it's time for a fresh beginning. I'm not too fond of the traditional New Years set-yourself-up-for-failure resolutions, so, as with most everything, I approach resolutions a little differently. Since resolutions almost by definition are strife with failing, I'm using the word to commitment. Those who know me well know commitment is a word I take very seriously and spend a lot of time trying to avoid.

Commitment to your self isn’t easy. It takes a lot of discipline and you need to be able to say, "No." Start practicing now, you will need it.

The second part is to boil the commitment down to a single word or short phrase. Since I know I need more physical activity in my life I have chosen the word "move." Of course I’m also trying to watch what I eat and that boils down to the word "choose" because I’m committed to making healthy choices in food. Let’s just stick to "move," to show you what I mean.

I am committed to making more movement in my life. Since I am majoring in writing I sit. I sit a lot. I can read on an elliptical machine or on my bike on a trainer in my living room, but I can’t write and keep moving. I have to live with that. I often chew gum while I write, so I could count that a teeny-tiny amount. I read an article that said if you chewed gum all day, every day you could lose several pounds over a year. Then a week later I heard Oprah (I was doing dishes and I turned the TV for a bit) say her pet peeve is people who chew gum. I thought that was a good point too and now I try to watch my gum chewing in public.

The stumbling block I have come across is my cable package. I don’t have the typical thirty or forty some dollar package with not much to watch on a hundred or more channels. I have the basic cable that brings in local channels clearly.

I added the cable box and took on some small package it has all the Encore channels which I watch sometimes since there are a lot of movies I have missed over the years. I bought this package so I could get the Sundance channel and the Independent Film Channel (IFC). Since I returned to school I’ve seriously had a few good talking’s with myself about getting rid of the package.

I don’t want to be tempted to watch Ben Affleck looking so darned cute in Jersey girl (I’m fully aware that it’s not Kevin Smith’s best effort) again on one of those Encore channels. I have a copy of "Pulp Fiction," but if it’s on one of my channels I’m predisposed to hypnotically watching it. I could give these channels up except I have the biggest problem giving up Sundance and IFC.

I’m an artsy woman and I love the deep, quirky, bizarre, and foreign films on those channels. I think of how I could save a small chunk of money a month and I could rent what I wanted to see when I want to see it, especially since the VCR won’t tape anything since that cable box came into my home. I’d offer my first born to have this problem fixed, but I neither have the child nor the youth to spare.

A former co-worker told me that her kids were allowed to watch all the television they wanted providing they did something else while they watched and that they did their chores. Her children have bright and shiny careers in creative fields. I’ve summoned this idea into my plan for movement because, even though I hate to admit it, I do like watching certain shows on TV.

Instead of potato-ing away while watching, I am trying to keep occupied on the floor in front of the tube performing stretches, riding my bike on the track stand and lifting my five pound dumbbells. I could refinish furniture, or sort through drawers or crochet a carport if I cared to do those things. As long as I’m doing something I’m fulfilling that commitment.

If quitting smoking is your thing to change, try the opposite of smoking for your key word, "breathe." If you strive for more confidence you could try "steel," or "strong." If you’re trying to watch your temper with loved ones perhaps "calm," or "patience," might work. Play around with words that you can use for something like a mantra. If you can’t come up with a word, check a dictionary. The shorter it is the better. My sister bought wooden letters at the hardware store and has spelled out the word "laugh" above her sink. As a mother of two teenagers, she can get too tense aiming for perfection. It’s a great word to have around and it’s a great way to incorporate the one-word commitment.

So dry your eyes and wipe your nose and get started on your own new resolution revolution, er, I mean commitment.