This is the time of year when it's most difficult to stay on track with our goals.

It's also the time of year when we're all in a rush to make new ones.

It seems to me that we all have a certain ideal, a certain way of living, that gets completely blown each holiday season.

We can't stick to a diet because, every time we turn around, we're met with a truffle. Either the house is in shambles with suitcases, pine needles, candle wax, and dirty dishes, or we're not even home. We're out of our routine. Our minds are chattery. Our bodies are in crisis mode, searching in vain for some broccoli and a treadmill.

I would like to suggest that this is not the ideal time of year for any serious and purposeful reflection.

During the holidays, we are buried to the neck in "shoulds" and "should nots." We should not get snappy at Aunt Bernice. We should not be eating cr