Truth be told, I was planning on keeping my New Years resolution to myself, but just 11 days into 2014, I find myself wanting to share. I think its part of the new me.

The resolution is this, and Im pretty sure its a quote but Im not sure who to attribute it to: Let it go to the universe.

Thats it. Let it go. Understand that most things are beyond my control, and that I need to step out of the way and let the universe take over.

There are many websites devoted exclusively to this idea and they have been my guide. Many of them quote Eckhart Tolle and feature mystical, Hobbit-inspired design and graphics. Thank you to the many enlightened people who have written on the subject.

Of course, like all resolutions, declaring it (even in public) is very different than acting upon it. Which is why I have taken action.

On the first morning of the brand new year, I awoke and deleted 311 and the Vancouver Police non-emergency number from my cellphone. I will have no more need for them. Nor will I have any need for the various city engineering and park board direct numbers I have collected over the years. Ill miss you guys.

Dogs may bark. They may run amok, off leash, in the park, crapping where they please, their owners oblivious. With zero enforcement, and me no longer making the call to the city, they may grow in numbers until the city park is no more than yellowed grass and garbage bins overflowing with colourful plastic bags of reeking dog feces. I will let it go. I will let it fall from me, like dog urine trickling from plastic playground equipment.

Leashless dogs may trail far behind their helmetless masters who ride their bicycles on the sidewalk while talking on cellphones, and somehow smoking a joint at the same time. Cyclists who do use the road may blow through the red light, narrowly missing small children.

I will step out of the way and let the universe handle it.

When the speeding drivers who notice the red light in the 30 kilometre-per-hour school zone screech to a halt at the last minute, I will not bang on their hoods. Nor will I scream obscenities at them through the drivers-side window and record their licence plate numbers. I will no longer photograph their stunned expressions. Instead I will put the fate of my children in the hands of the universe. It is what it wants to be, I will tell them, with a wink.

Read more here:
New Year’s resolution: Let the universe take the reins