Now that the holiday decorations are put away and you’re pretty much over your annual holiday quarrel with the in-laws, it’s time to think about the year ahead.

I’m not one for New Year’s resolutions. I believe them to be a tool of a satanic universe whose sole purpose is to set me up for failure. If I don’t keep them, I feel really crappy about myself and frankly, I don’t need that. So, trash the resolutions and instead I offer –Lessons and Morons. Ok, it’s a play on words but work with me here folks.

First, the lessons (less- on’s).

Think less about what didn’t get done last year. It’s over -bye-bye. No matter how badly you beat yourself up, (or until we get that darned time machine thing worked out), time will not reverse itself so let’s just move forward.

Think less on making everything perfect. Ozzy and Harriett was a television show. It’s not the real world. If you crash into bed at the end of the day worrying about the “to do” list items which didn’t get done, the world will not stop spinning. I promise.

There is of course the one woman we all know who appears to have everything in perfect order. Her children are perfectly coiffed, never have wrinkled clothes, and she always remembers to cut the crust off the bread of her kids lunch sandwiches. Well, she’s a freak and will be added to the list of things we will think less on. Teach your kids to eat the sandwich from the inside out and throw the crust away. It won’t kill them and will be a lesson in coordination. You’ve provided lunch and a learning experience! Pride yourself with the knowledge that your kids will have a survival skill the freak woman’s kids won’t have.

Think less on the people who make you not feel so great about yourself. You know who they are and we all have them. I made a decision long ago not to surround myself with people who don’t make me feel good about myself. If you can’t avoid them all together, limit your contact. If I have to be around them, I just remind myself they’re miserable and spreaders of the funk. Make the decision to be “funk free”. You’re the person in control here and don’t ever forget it.

This year should be dedicated to thinking more about the “more”. What do you want more of? I’m not talking about material mores, but rather the things that really count. More about what makes you smile.

If it’s a diet you’re wanting don’t think of it as losing weight, think of it as concentrating more on your health.

If the laundry doesn’t get finished tonight it was because you were thinking more on spending time with your kids. It’s all perception people.

Now there are the real morons. This year we’re in denial. The morons don’t exist. Every rude, impatient, disrespectful person you encounter this year will be a lesson. You’ll never change them but you can certainly learn from them. You can spend the year angry or you can block them out.

Each time I run into one of these idiots I make a silent promise to never do to anyone what they’ve just done to me. I leave them dead in their tracks wondering why they didn’t get the response they’re probably used to receiving.

It’s a cycle of stopping stupidity. I’ve thought less on them and more on me and my happiness. You’ll be a one woman super hero for your kids, co-workers and friends. They’ll wonder why you didn’t put your hands around that moron’s throat and they’ll secretly envy your poise.

My best friend in the world actually keeps a list of times that she’s not smacked someone. It’s hysterical. It's posted next to her computer. When she looks at the list it reminds her not of what they did to her, but rather what she didn’t do in retaliation. It cracks me up every time she tells me that someone new has been added. This works for her and more than likely cuts down on crime because she’d love nothing more than to round house kick some of these folks.

She’s reinforcing the fact that she is one of the super hero members. She’s helping to squash the cycle of moronic behavior and thinking more on her happiness.

Learn the lessons. Stop the morons. I should embroider that on a throw pillow.

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L.D. Lee is the proud mother of two daughters, ages 28 and 6. A single mom, she works as a Patient Services Coordinator during the day and as a freelance writer late into the night.