It's all in the -

Harry and I are standing in line to board the Jurassic Park ride at Universal in Florida.

It has been 45 minutes and the end is not in sight.

"This is not how I want to spend my vacation," Harry says.

I knew what he meant.

But I had been wanting to go to Universal ever since I learned about it.

So here we now are. Standing in lines, wasting time. This is not how I envisioned it. In my fantasy world, we visit the park and it fulfills all my dreams.

I think that's what bothers Harry the most - the waste of time. To him, standing in a line for two hours for a ride that lasts five minutes is not productive.

I couldn't help but be reminded of something I read recently.

When someone dies, the tombstone engraving records her birth and death, like 1927-2004. But it's the dash in between that is the measure of his life.

The article says that those two sets of numbers don't tell you anything about a person but it's what you do in between those two sets of numbers that counts.

I never gave that any thought until now.

Do I really want to remember my vacation in Florida as hours spent standing in lines for a few moments of a thrill that will in no way enrich my life?

We finally get on board the river ride, see a few bad dinosaur imitations and get one really good scare before we plunge straight down, getting very wet, much to Harry's chagrin.

As we disembark, I look at Harry and say, "Are you ready to go leave?"

His eyes light up and we happily say "Good-bye" to Universal Park, $160 poorer.

It is an expensive lesson to learn that we are definitely not amusement park people anymore.

Or maybe we're learning how valuable time is and we should use it wisely.

New Year's is always a time to make resolutions - to diet, to exercise, to spend less money, to spend more time with family…in the coming year.

My 2010 New Year's resolution is to make my days, my hours count, to not waste the time I have left.

Because when my numbers appear on my tombstone, I want to know that I filled the years inside the dash with things that matter.

A very healthy and happy new year to all of you. May you all make this year count.