What the heck…here it is almost a week and a half into the new year and FINALLY I show up making some New Year’s resolutions. Actually, I made them back in December I just hadn’t found the time to sit down, relax, and gather my thoughts for a New Year’s blog—at least not until today.
Before I get too far into things I looked back at last year to see what resolutions I made and to see if I kept any or not. Wow! I hang my head low in shame realizing that 12 months ago I never even took the time to jot any down. I could have swore I had. Nope, it was back in December of ‘05 when I last publicly declared how I was going to improve my life.
Of course, 2006 was to be the year I would do a better job blogging, get healthier, take more pictures…you know, the usual stuff. To some extent I met a few of those goals, but as you know my blogging has been pretty sporadic and way off my stated intentions.
It seems falling back into the blogging routine is just a whole lot easier said than done. I miss it dearly and I miss many of my loyal readers commenting about my ramblings whether good or bad. I also miss doing the podcasting as I daily look over in the corner of my office and see about $3,000 worth of broadcast recording equipment just collecting dust.
So, this year I am NOT going to make blogging or podcasting part of my declared New Year’s resolutions. Nope, I plan to keep this year’s resolutions a lot more simple than that. This year my one and only resolution is going to be to three-fold: #1. I’m going to introduce someone new to the sport of shooting. #2. I’m going to introduce someone new to the sport of fishing. #3. And, as you might deduce, I plan to introduce someone new to the wonders of hunting. That’s it. My resolution is to simply reach out and find some other person(s) who can experience those fabulous activities thanks to me enabling it to happen.
To better accomplish this goal I signed up for the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s STEP OUTSIDE program that is geared toward helping me accomplish my 2008 goals. Check out their web site. They have great ideas on how to make this happen. My favorite part of the web site is their gift certificate you can down-load and give to someone. What a great way to make a fun outing actually happen. I mean…who doesn’t like to cash-in on a gift certificate that is received?
Imagine if those of us who enjoy the outdoors started sharing those opportunities with others a bit more freely. Not only does it help foster new friendships, but think of what it does by exposing someone new to better understanding that guns are not all bad, hunting isn’t so barbaric, and fishing is a whole lot more than cranking in those lunkers and then immediately letting them go.
Folks, I could easily sit here today and say that my 2008 resolutions are to lose weight, get in better shape, spend more time with my family, save more money, you know…the typical things many people hope for as any new year gets rolling. Truth is, my simple resolution to invite someone new into the outdoors is probably equally as important to any of those common resolutions.
Think of how many lives we could touch if each of us simply invited one new person along fishing this year or a new guy into deer camp. Rather than seeing our sporting heritage numbers dwindle due to attrition, we could each do our part to help reverse those negative trends. Sure, it’s a big task…but we all have to start somewhere.
Here’s hoping you made some resolutions for 2008 and those intentions are still going strong. Have a Happy New Year and (off the record) I do hope to accomplish a lot more blogging and podcasting this year. Please don’t count me out in that regard quite yet, either. 
2008 Jim Braaten. All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction without Prior Permission.
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