Happy New Year! Jewish New Year. Which to be honest is the best type of new year because… food.

The first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of a “new year” are resolutions. What are my new year’s resolutions? Will I lose weight? Learn an instrument? Give to charity?

My 14 year old sister brought up a very good point about resolutions. I quote: “resolutions are stupid.” Why are resolutions stupid I ask?

Resolutions are stupid because people wait around NOT doing stuff because they will make a resolution to do it. Once they make the resolution they might stick with it for a tiny bit before forgetting or giving up. Basically, resolutions are a form of procrastination.

I am 100% guilty of resolution procrastination or as I like to say “procrastolution”. Let me elaborate. I have about 110 ideas a day. I assume that my ideas are brilliant and easy to execute, so I start planning when, where and how I will do them. They are always planned for ‘next week’…

This particular problem is known in colloquial terms as “talking the talk, but not walking the walk”. I like to say a lot of creative, impressive, and otherwise noteworthy things, but how often do I do them?

Although resolutions are not a Jewish new year thing I think they can help us attain what the spirit of the holiday is really about. Also since I am prone to “procrastolution” the new year is the PERFECT time for me to make some more resolutions.

My Dad once told me that he tries to maintain balance through body, mind and soul. This sounds cliche, but it really resonates with me. In the Jewish New year we ask ourselves “how can I be a better person?” I find that some people solely think about how can they be a better person towards other people and forget about how they can be better to themselves. If you treat your body kindly, with exercise, healthy food and attention, you will be able to help other people better (and for longer). If you learn from others, keep your brain sharp and listen to your creativity, you will be able to help people in new innovative ways and if you pay attention to your own feelings and emotions, if you listen to what YOUR soul is saying, you will notice other peoples better.

So I have plenty of personal “me” oriented resolutions, but my ultimate goal is to make myself a better person both physically, mentally and in spirit so I can be a better person towards everyone else.

So here they are, my 5776 resolutions! In the new year I want to run a marathon and not just any marathon… the Jerusalem marathon -the bible didn’t lie when it was talking about the ‘hills’ of Jerusalem. I want to be a better vegan and eat healthier (because Oreos are vegan). I want to get into the habit of saying “yes”. I want to start projects today not tomorrow. I want to respect others and to be respected. I want to learn something everyday. I want to learn to be more humble. I want my default reaction to be to help people. I want to be active in my community and make a difference where I can. I want to take action and not be passive. I want to live in the moment and open my eyes to the opportunities around me. I want to be kind. I want to be helpful. I want to love.

Since this is technically a running blog I will mention that I went for a run this morning, the Eve of Rosh Hashanah. I ran 14K with my dad starting from the First Station, working my way up past the King David Hotel, Mamilla, through and around the Old City, along Salah Ad-Din in East Jerusalem, past Mea She’arim and back all the way down the train tracks past the First Station. As a ran through one neighborhood to the next I saw all the people of Jerusalem. From one street filled with Hijabs and Kafiyas to the next street filled with Shtreimels and Payot, to the more secular neighborhoods filled with other runners and shoppers and more diversity than I can even mention. The diversity is what makes Jerusalem such an amazing place to live. My prayer for the new year is may everyone appreciate the diversity that I have come to love, may we wish to live together in peace, with love instead of hate. May we all fulfill our personal resolutions in order to help others. That when we say Yerushalayim Habnuya, we mean a Jerusalem built on love, respect and kindness.

I’m looking forward to my journey and wondering where it will take me in this new year. Have a great holiday, eat well, then run it off the next day (sure…). Happy New Year everybody!