he trouble with New Year's . . . and the power of now.

The execution of Saddam Hussein yesterday morning shows me the flip side of the forgiveness coin. It took me back almost twenty years to the day that I broke a long period of living T.V.-free to watch Nelson Mandela walk free from prison after 27 years in captivity. It was an experience that moved me deeply, and which informs one of my personal favorite chapters in the Running Home book.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission that followed the long years of Apartheid was, to my mind, one of the most remarkable acts of leadership in modern history. It offered those on both sides of the color divide the opportunity to own their actions, and to initiate a dialogue of forgiveness.

And as I try to do as often as I can when something angers me, I used my work out to look inside and see what it was about Saddam's execution that annoyed me the most. With the inherent sense of promise that can come with a New Year, it seemed so contrary to have this killing front and center. It appeared somewhat transparent to hurry this through at the end of the year, so that in a day or two, the New Year would come along and this very public execution might be left more quickly behind as last year's news.

And as I listened to my somewhat sluggish stride, I recognized that I too had been "using" New Year and the promise of new behavior to indulge in my own unpleasantness—heading out on a sugar binge for the last week in the name of celebrating the holidays, and with the promise of better eating habits to come starting January 1.

Am I trying to equate my eating habits with this major world event? No. But through exploring it, I see how I can abuse the promise of change to even further entrench old habits.

This is the challenge of putting change off into the future. When we do this, we put our life out into the future also. Our hopes, our dreams, the life we long to live. "On January 1, I'll do X." Or, "When I am in a relationship, I'll be happy." Or, "When I earn so much, then I'll be ready to start my own business." When we put the change out in the future, we get to hand out in the old behaviors of the past a little longer—which is where I know I can get very comfortable.

Every day can be January 1—that it the power of taking action now! Perhaps that would be a great New Year's resolution for all of us—live every day as January 1!