I actually started my resolution last year, late in December. And already I broke it. I vowed to exercise daily, even if it's some vain attempts at basic PE forms.

Yesterday (New Year's Eve) I already skipped it - I had good reasons, but still... Anyhow, the key to any lifestyle change is not perfection, but resuming it after the inevitable failure.

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One hope for the new year: to keep family strife to a minimum. I'm not a violent person, so the only sins are that of voice - too harsh a tone, usually.

I can't be sweetness and light always. Still, I hope to keep my voice level and my words loving with all people deserving, starting with my family.

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Another hope is for me to succeed at my current job. In retrospect, I do think I was not cut out to be a coder. I joined my current position in a software testing capacity, and the mindset to think of good tests and possible failure modes was my way in.

However, as a company, we redefined the role of software test to that of "they who write automated tests for the software." I'm not a coder; I'm a scripter. I've covered this in past blog enteries.

I disagree with the change. I feel software testing indeed requires automation, but automation in turn requires design. In bringing this up with my past boss, he said the company expects us all to be excellent test designers, hence the emphasis on coding.

However, my first (and favourite thus far) boss once addressed this: "There are good testers, and there are good test coders. People who can do both are rare." I'm afraid I cannot disagree.

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But, enough about my old job. My current job is that of systems operations. I'm not (yet) a systems administrator, my first (and favourite) position in my career. Still, I get to do some scripting, some automation.

Additionally, my test design background also plays well into this spot - now that I can see the service as a whole, I can think of better failure modes. Rather than just examine one (core) component, I'm now looking at the service from the customer's perspective and able to work from there.

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My last, but most important hope for the new year is what has eluded so many of us: happiness.

It's the result of many factors. In my life, that includes better time management so I have more time to focus on activities that yield the most happiness, taking better care of my body with exercise and sleep. I need to also take better care of my mind, but that's too personal a matter for me to be comfortable discussing here.

Still, in many articles, the conclusion is happiness is a choice. When things go south, I can choose to wallow in it, to fume at it, or to shrug and best apply my energies to resolve it. When I'm stretched too thin, I can whine, I can resist, or I can do my best and be satisfied in it.

When faced with any negative event, I will find the choice therein, then choose to be happy.