It’s that time of the year again; time to bust out the annual personal improvement list. Some of you have may have happily marked a check in areas that you satisfied for last year. You earned yourself a cookie, unless your New Year’s resolution was to abstain from cookies. Ignore Nike. Don’t do it. Tt would ruin your 365-day project of cookie chastity.

For those of you who failed miserably and your New Year’s resolution sacrament sheet was viciously desecrated by your hands long ago, fret not. I am the president of that club. It’s time to realize that some things were never meant to be resolved.

Examples include, but are not limited to, my inability to stop drinking soda (pop if you prefer), your inability to stop ‘Facebooking’ your life away, the Seahawks inability to win a Super Bowl, the Middle East’s inability to stop fighting and PDA (Public Display of Affection) couples’ inability to, well, stop publicly displaying affection.

Maybe jotting down what you need to work on gives you a sense of gratification that weakens your resolve to the act of doing it. I’m not saying to not write it down. If you really want to resolve something, you have to take it to task on a daily basis, not tack it on the wall once a year, thereby distancing yourself from what you should be closely sparring with for 12 sacrificial rounds.

I spoke with a co-worker — my boss really — and she told me she need not be dependent on a calendar’s cue to direct her life. If she wants to change something, she’ll do it, the date non-withstanding. Maybe that’s the inherent flaw of New Year’s resolutions. To accumulate all your mistakes and imperfections by writing a to-do list has turned this self-help ritual less like a baptismal renewal and more of an annual crucifixion.

In the age of self-help, it’s hard to conceptualize the notion that sometimes it’s OK to stay where you are. Maybe it’s time that we accept and embrace each other for who we are. You know what Gandhi? I’m hoping the guy next to me is the change I want to see in the world because I sure as hell can’t do it. You know what Barack? Let’s not be for change. No we can’t. Keep frenching each other amid uptight singles, and PDA lovebirds. Go ahead and choke each other to death, Middle East. Get stolen by Clay Bennett’s cousin, Seahawks. Move to Rhode Island, Mariners.

On a different note, I was able to start eating healthy last year. I had a plethora of carrots and felt good about myself. Thus, I rewarded myself with a triple bypass surgery-invoking burger meal from Wendy’s. Maybe that’s how it works; you got to start eating carrots before you can start working on world peace. I never thought I’d see an African-American President or a 40-year-old franchise be kidnapped and held for ransom by the devil incarnate.

It seems change is possible. Maybe I should try out for the Seahawks or become politically active. It’s time to become a vegetarian. It’s time to do that for the New Year’s resolution. Maybe you could stand up for justice and inspire all of us sitting down. Maybe you could be the next president of the United States. Maybe you can be the change you wish to see in the world.

Reach columnist Julian Estrada at opinion@dailyuw.com.