To celebrate the new year, my husband and I went to a dance party with friends.

As the 12 of us sat around the table, I asked the typical question of the day: Did you make any new year's resolutions?Not a single person did, except my husband and me. Our friends said they learned long ago not to make resolutions because they break them all too soon."I don't want to be disappointed in myself, so I don't make a resolution I won't keep," said one friend.They wanted to know what resolutions I made.I told them my most serious resolution was to complete my estate plan. When I started talking about that, it was an instant conversational turn-off.We are of an age when we don't want to think about how close we may be to our demise, one friend said."Don't you have a less serious resolution?" she asked.OK, here's another of my resolutions, but I'm serious about this one, too."Move more."That's it.I have gotten too sedentary. Once the sun goes down, my energy goes down with it and I don't do another thing. I sit in one place reading or watching TV.That's not good for my weight or my health. And to tell the truth, it's not making good use of my time.I figure if I keep my resolution to "move more," I won't waste those evening hours and it will be better for my health.I was so pleased when one of the Christmas presents my husband gave me was a Fitbit one of the little gadgets that measure the number of steps we take and the miles we walk.Three of my friends have one, and they say it has really increased their activity. To make it more fun, they have a contest to see who does the most miles.Bear in mind these are people who were never walkers. They work hard, and when their day is over, the last thing they want is to put on sneakers and go for a hike.But that's exactly what they are doing now. They are walking in the morning, in the evening and then doing more on the treadmill, they tell me.When I got my Fitbit, I saw why they got so motivated. Two reasons: It's disheartening at the end of the day when you see you have only taken a pathetic number of steps. And when we have a good day of activity, it spurs us on to want more.Thanks to the incentive of having my movement, or lack of it, recorded, it's easy to keep my promise to move more. My doctor will be pleased, too.I love to bike and go every chance I get."Biking is not enough. It's not a weight-bearing exercise. You need to walk, too," insisted my doctor during my last visit.So I'm walking. I've yet to get beyond 2 miles, and that came with blisters on my toes.I'm always one who looks on the bright side of things, including when I'm at a dismal starting point. The good news is there is nowhere to go except up. And I know from experience how persistence pays off.Last year at this time I just had surgery to repair a torn tendon. After eight weeks of no weight bearing, it was painful to walk. In physical therapy, I could not move my leg to the side.But I worked at those baby exercises every single day and pushed as hard as I could. The result was my hip and leg muscle grew stronger than ever. I recovered my ability, and then some.I also draw inspiration from others.My friend Mark is my greatest inspiration.Two years ago, at the young age of 54, a routine test before rotator cuff surgery revealed a serious heart problem so serious that he was ordered to stop working at his construction job.Turns out he has a rare heart condition for which there is no medical or surgical intervention.Ironically, his brother is a top rated heart surgeon, but he couldn't find a magic cure, either.So Mark found one. It's called walking. He started walking 6 miles a day to strengthen his heart muscle, then increased it to 10 miles. Then he bikes 20 miles.After one year of constant exercise, his heart condition is no longer considered life-threatening.Some people who had his condition would rot away in a corner, doing nothing more strenuous than sitting on the sofa."I've seen what happens to people like that, and I vowed that wouldn't happen to me," he said.See that a serious vow can reap positive results.I still find it difficult to walk very far, but if I keep at it, next year at this time maybe I'll have my own success story.I read where some of those exercise monitors have a built-in beeper that goes off if the wearer is inactive for more than an hour.I have my own motivator an inner voice that yells my mantra: Move more. Move more.Move, move, move!It's easy to keep a resolution in January. We'll see how long it lasts.