Having problems keeping your New Year's resolution? Not me. Because this year I chose resolutions that were easily fulfilled:

No more seiza: Seiza is an excruciating form of Japanese style-sitting (on your haunches), invented especially to torture foreigners. I know this is true because Japanese people seem to have no problem sitting this way. Many even seem to enjoy it. For years, I have feigned sitting seiza, pretending I could do it just fine and careful not to complain about the lightheadedness and "pins and needles" sensation in my legs at the end of a session.

Seiza often catches you by surprise. Overjoyed that someone has invited you to an exclusive, secret Japanese religious ceremony, you'll be led into the dark inner sanctum of the temple where incense is wafting and oh no! You have to sit seiza! For hours, possibly even years. Even if you're lucky enough to endure it, at the end of the ceremony, the Japanese will jump up and do acrobatics across the room and out the door, while you're still sitting there smiling, unable to move, destined to become a modern Daruma doll (based on a Zen monk who meditated for so long that eventually his arms and legs fell off). Seiza will definitely get rid of your legs for you.