Reverb #11: What are 11 things your life doesn’t need in 2011? How will you go about eliminating them? How will getting ride of these 11 things change your life?

I have a list of things I want to get rid of…not entirely sure how I go about the elimination process. Is it as easy as pulling a Nancy Reagan and simply “saying no?” Methinks not, but I’ve got to start somewhere.

1. Bitterness. It’s like I tell Liam, when he complains about something Caleb did a week ago: “it’s over, done. Nothing to be done. Let it go.” Need to follow my own advice.

2. Sniping as a form of dialogue.

3. Sarcasm, especially when it’s directed at my children. A wise teacher once told me that sarcasm directed at those who are less powerful isn’t funny, it’s just nasty.

4. An over-reliance on cheese. All that dairy just can’t be good for me, or my late-forties heart. Not sure what to eat instead – and no one had better say anything about soy cheese.

5. “Trying.” It’s like Yoda said. “Do. Or do not. There is no try.”  All that “trying” isn’t a panacea; it’s not a band-aid against things not being done.  Instead of “trying” to get things done, I need to find some other, more accurate phrase, including the very difficult but important “nope, not gonna happen, no can do.”

6. Fear. Really, what’s the worst thing that could happen? So you try side crow and fall on your face. Does the world end?

7. Perez Hilton. Okay. Maybe not Perez Hilton. Can’t a girl have one guilty pleasure? Except no. He’s just mean. And participates in a whole world of privacy invasion that I don’t want to be a part of.

8. Impatience. Take a breath. Take two breaths. Heck, take three.

9. The muffin tube above the waistband of my jeans. Focusing on #4, above, may help with that. More yoga, ditto.

10. Fighting with my kids about their eating habits. I put it on the table. They eat or don’t eat. I no longer want the table to be a squabble ground and I don’t want to cook three dinners. I think #10 will become a corollary of #8…and #3…maybe a dollop of numbers 1 & 2, too. Hmm.

11. Not writing. Which is to say that more writing must happen in 2011. Which is to say that #11 is really #1. More writing, more yoga, more family game night instead of family clustered each on his or her own laptop.

What’s on YOUR list of eleven things to let go?