So many times, we resolve on New Year's Eve to do this or that, with nary a thought of actually how realistic such promises to ourselves are.


The experts tell us that a resolution must have at least a 50% chance of success to be effective. (These same experts also point out that a 25-year-old male resident of New York City has a 1.04782% chance of being killed by a grizzly attack in the back woods of Oregon.)


In light of these statistics, and in honour of the Western World's tradition of making New Year's resolutions, I've decided to list a few of my own Bahamas resolutions. I would also welcome any comment that reader's may have about their own resolutions for the New Year.


Resolution 1: I resolve to visit every single island in the Bahamas in 2007. With 700 islands and cays (reminder: pronounced "keys") and 365 days in the year, that means I'll have to visit 1.9178 islands or cays each day.


It might be a bit taxing, but it's possible.


Resolution 2: I resolve to snap pictures of the cast of characters who add color to life in Nassau. We see them everyday on the streets throughout New Providence. Some have nicknames (either self-imposed or simply descriptive) such as Action Man, Potcake and Helmet Man. Others are simply known about town for what they are seen doing: such as "Lady who walks 50 miles a day carrying plastic shopping bags" or "the Preacher Man who saves souls on the boat ramp with a megaphone".


I think they deserve some recognition and will have to work this activity into my travel schedule.


Resolution 3: I resolve to get married, have three kids, and move to New Providence island in the Bahamas.


Wait . . . forget that one. I've done that already.


Final Resolution: I resolve to keep my eyes peeled for grizzly bears, if ever I become a 25-year-old resident of New York City and find myself in the back woods of Oregon.


With all the island-hopping I plan to do, though, I just don't know when I'll have time for that last one.


Happy New Year everyone.


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