New Year’s resolutions are effective for some, burdensome for many and forgettable for most.

I debate with myself at this time every year whether I should even bother making any. I realize now that something, or rather many things, about me will always remain dissatisfactory. Making a resolution to change those aspects at the beginning of every year seems as futile as driving on the Interstate during Friday rush hour.

CRAIG FOSTER

Yet, the problem could be that my resolutions are too extreme, i.e. wanting to look like Brad Pitt instead of losing 10 pounds. I’ll resolve myself to working out three hours a day and eating nothing but lettuce, fat-free ham and cottage cheese. How long does that last? About as long as it took for you to read that question.

What’s worse is that instead of tempering my goal to working out 45 minutes a day and reducing my junk-food intake, I give up entirely. My failure with the initial goal makes me abandon any hope of progress.

“Since I can’t look like Brad Pitt, I don’t want to even try to be in shape at all,” I think to myself.

You probably laugh when reading that, but I’ve found that most people follow the same thought pattern. I have never heard anyone say that she wants to make $5 more this year. No, people say they want to increase their annual revenue by at least $10,000 – $1 million sounds nice to me.

But it’s like my father always told me: “If you expect perfection or nothing, you’ll always end up with nothing.”

So, why do we constantly make unrealistic goals for ourselves? It almost seems like we are addicted to disappointment. Can you imagine explaining that to a psychologist?

“What’s your problem?” the psychologist asks.

“Well, sir, I crave more disappointment in my life,” you respond. “You see, my dog died, my girlfriend dumped me and I like bad country music, but that just isn’t enough. So, my New Year’s resolution this year is to fly; that should never happen.”

Sounds crazy, I know, but is it really that far off?

I think the reason for our far-fetched goals is that we know amazing things really do happen on this side of paradise. Obese people become thin, homeless people become millionaires and cancer patients survive. One such miraculous case recently occurred in our neck of the woods.

Valley Ranch resident Sandra Hart walked for the first time in nearly ten years at the Coppell Family YMCA. Her juvenile rheumatoid arthritis reduced her to a vegetated state when she was 16. Just being able to speak again was a huge accomplishment for her.

No one ever expected her to walk again. But she overcame all odds. Now, she can basically do everything anyone with full health can do.

She’s raising money for the YMCA and the Arthritis Foundation. She speaks to community groups and schools. She even volunteers at her mom’s work.

Nothing can stop her. Her enthusiasm and determination inspired me when I interviewed her last week. But she will be the first one to tell you her life did not change overnight.

She endured months of not being able to leave home. The pain, she said, made her feel like it would be better not to live. Even after mustering up the motivation to participate in the YMCA’s “Smooth Moves” water aerobics class, she still had to be lowered into the pool with a lift chair.

Hart did re-learn how to walk in a little under two years in the class, which is spectacular. Still, her progress didn’t occur overnight. It actually occurred over more than 3,000 nights.

Read Hart’s full story on in the Dec. 30 print edition of Neighbors or view the online PDFs. The reason I bring her up in my column is to illustrate that progress can be made even though it takes time. Miracles certainly can happen.

So, when debating whether or not to make a New Year’s resolution, please consider that you can do anything you set your mind to – but don’t expect it to happen overnight.

Who knows? Maybe in 10 years your editor will look like the star of Troy and Babel. Then again, maybe I should concentrate on flying.

Regardless, have a safe and happy New Year’s celebration and a terrific 2007.