New Year's Resolution

I'm not one to make New Year's Resolutions - probably because I'm afraid of breaking them.  This year, however, there is something that I have been nominally trying to work on since my second child was born - without much success, so I have decided to make it my New Year's Resolution in order to be more serious about it.  Unfortunately I don't think this is something that I can do for 21 or 28 days straight to make it a habit.  It is something that needs to be remembered and practiced over a lifetime.  Although I do believe that if I work hard at it and remind myself daily, I should make some progress.

My goal for 2012 is to be "quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry."  Taken from James 1:19-20 "¹⁹ My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, ²⁰ because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires."

The first day that I decided to make this my New Year's Resolution was quite easy - it was fresh on my mind and my husband took the kids for a couple of hours so that I could have some time alone and he was home for the entire day.  Since that day it has been a struggle.  I am working on reminding myself every morning during my time with God, but it is amazing how quickly I forget.

When I am actually quick to listen and slow to speak I find that I am also slow to become angry.  In the past I mostly focused on the "slow to become angry" part of the verse, but now I am realizing that those first two help with the third.  Maybe if I focus on quick to listen for a month and slow to speak the second month then the third month slow to become angry would be quite natural and a good habit will have been formed.  In theory this sounds good, but I'm pretty sure that I will still need to rely on God rather than my own strength and ability to form good habits.

Did you make any New Year's Resolutions?  Why or why not?  Care to join me in my goal?