Resolve to live peacefully in 2020

A line of dialogue from a legendary film (we’ll leave it to you to guess which one) said more about the new year than any literary work: “Headaches are like resolutions. You forget them as soon as they stop hurting.”

Lose weight, spend more time with the kids, quit smoking, be a stronger person. All of these are worthy new year resolutions but, let’s face it, they do hurt. Maybe not in a physical sense, but they require discipline if we are to succeed.

What do we long for? What do we want to change about our lives and ourselves? Columnist Monica Hesse wrote the following in a Dec. 30 commentary on The Washington Post News Service. “There’s a scene in the Tina Fey comedy ‘Date Night’ where Fey’s character reveals her most luxurious fantasy: Spending a solitary afternoon in a professionally cleaned hotel room while sipping a diet Sprite.”

Fey’s dream resolution is a plummy visual gag, but there is serious truth in it. In 2020 we want order in our lives. There’s nothing like the start of a new decade to get back on track, stabilize and going back to basics. We want things to go right in our lives.

A long run of good health is also in demand. We’re eating more sustainable food, so that is a good place to start caring for your heart.

Fitness (the activity formerly known as exercise) is high on the priority list.

While we’re at it, we could reach out to new people and make bigger circles of friends. Look another human being in the eye instead of on a cell phone or laptop. Speak with your natural voice to a person instead of texting.

Making 2020 headache-free is the best resolution we can offer. Helping ourselves to some peace, order and control of lives can’t be forgotten. And they won’t hurt a bit.