Song of the Dragons’ Revenge

This poem is from a work in progress. It is sung by a bard in Chapter 3. But that may change.                

Song of the Dragons’ Revenge
By cover of a moonless night
Through chilling wind, on wings alight,
They make their way in silent flight.

They came from just beyond the heath.
The acrid smell of dragon breath
The searing harbinger of death.

Talons scratch, turrets fall,
Rending stones from castle wall.
Arrow rain, but break and fall.

As dragons loose their streams of fires,
Soldiers hear their children’s cries;
Thatched roofs become their funeral pyres.

Scales gleam red by flame’s bright light
Then quick as came, the wings take flight
And disappear into the night.
　

New Year's Resolutions

New Years Resolution - n. a promise made to one’s self at the beginning of a new year that one has no inclination to keep once the hangover goes away.

Isn’t it curious that most resolutions are negative? Stop smoking. Stop drinking. Stop overeating. Stop swearing in front of the kids. Stop this, stop that. The only positive resolutions are actually negative in disguise. Lose weight. Isn’t losing a bad thing? You’d think so if you lost your dog. unless your dog was like mine, but that’s another story.

If you want to make a resolution that you stand a chance of keeping for more than the duration of your New Year’s Eve hangover, you need to be positive and specific. And you need to relate it to something you already do. “I resolve to eat eleven M&Ms every day.” I frequently eat a whole bag of them, and by bag I mean the big 16 ounce bag. By limiting my self to eleven, I cut out 15 ½ ounces of calories. If I made a resolution not to eat M&Ms, by January 6 I would be craving them and the next thing I know I am at the nearest Walmart with a cart full of nothing but chocolate that I eat before I make it back home. So by forcing myself to eat eleven, I get enough to get rid of the craving, and eventually eating M&Ms becomes a chore. Before I know it, I can’t stand to even look at the little colorful candies. Which was the desired effect in the first place. So, to make a resolution you can keep, make it positive (I WILL do this), make it specific (exactly eleven) and make it relate in some way to something you already do (eat M&Ms).

Some other examples? You want to get more exercise. ‘More’ is not specific enough. And you need to spell out when you plan to do it. So try “I will catch the bus at the second stop from my house every morning.” You only need to get moving a few minutes earlier in the morning to walk the extra block or two. You only do it five days a week, so you still get to sleep in on weekends and you already take the bus to work. Positive, specific and already something you do. Easy enough.

Or you want to quit smoking. Quit is such a negative word. Instead, schedule your cigarettes. If you usually smoke, say, an average of one cigarette per hour, schedule a smoke break at the even hours. So at 8, 10, 12, 2, 4... you have to drop whatever you are doing and smoke. When you can handle that, cut out a couple more. Then you promise to smoke once cigarette every hour that is divisible by 3: 9, 12, 3 and 6. Knowing exactly when you are going to have to smoke usually makes the cravings easy to handle. Again, positive, specific and something you already do.

Whatever you do, avoid the mistake a lot of people make and that is to make a whole list of resolutions. If you try to lose weight, exercise more and stop smoking all at the same time, you will end up not doing any of them. Choose the one that you feel is the most important. Not the one your doctor, spouse, friends or that magazine article tells you is important. The one you stick with is the one YOU feel is important. If you think they are all equal, choose the one that you will have the best chance of achieving.

And one other bit of advice regarding resolutions. Make them whenever you want. Don’t wait until New Years Day. Because that was last week and you don’t need to wait another 51 weeks to start improving your self. You deserve better than that.