After such a bad year last year, I have decided this year would be different: this year, I would put my new year's resolutions in writing. Last year, I didn't, and consequently none of them seemed real to me; thus, none of them got accomplished, unfortunately. Well, at least I survived the year. In times past, whenever things got desperate and hopeless, I would take out a piece of paper and write out a plan for how to survive the crisis. Only after I did that did there seem reason for optimism, for only then did overcoming the crisis seem real. In a way, it even made the crisis itself real, and thus easier to deal with.

Plan:

• Be more organized.
  • Make daily lists of important things to do.
  • Make a list of typical grocery items to be checked prior to errands, so I won't have to make emergency runs to the store so frequently.
  • Keep a running list of errand-related things to do.
  • Better plan my trips out so as to avoid crowds and crowd noise.
  • Keep my snail mail together so it won't get misplaced.
• Do a better job of answering email.
• Follow my doctor's advice a little more carefully than I have been.
• Update my page more often.
• Learn more about how to make my computer behave itself.

* "Ponderings" is an editorial feature I publish online weekly on various autism-related issues. Check back here for future articles and please do recommend this site to all your friends. :)