One is supposed to write about New Year resolutions as the calendar year turns over. The older I get the less I'm resolved. This year is a milestone year for me: I'm 65. Of course, I changed my age as soon as the calendar turned Jan 1. According to Drake and the rest of the world, I won't be 65 until September, late September at that. One would think at least Drake would take into account my poor arithmetical skills. Born in 1950, if it's 2015, then that's arithmetic I can do to calculate my age.
At 65, I qualify as old.
I always knew I would be old. As a teenager, I looked at the family tree, and supposed that four grandparents who lived to 90+ made my longevity a foregone conclusion. In my misbegotten youth cigarette smoking didn't seem that big of a risk - so knock 10 years off the end of my life; big deal. That calculation was the medical conclusion in 1970 when I took up the miserable habit. Now in hindsight, we've all learned the medics lied to us about smoking for years and years, and now we all know smoking is a quick and ugly way to end your life. Still....all the resolutions in the world didn't help me quit smoking. Stopping smoking took divine help.
Some businesses make their nut on New Year's Resolutions. Just ask the health clubs. Most of those clubs would be in bankruptcy by March except for those deluded souls who RESOLVE to get into shape each January 1st. They blissfully sign contracts, pay enrollment fees, and never see the inside of the place after February 1st. I can surely identify with those souls; Lordy, how I hate to exercise. Those resolutions last for me only as long as Drake's willpower. Drake's willpower tends to last the entire damn year.
It was interesting to see how the only magazine I read in paper form handled the New Year. Each issue of Real Simple has a 'theme', and the theme for the January issue is "Letting Go". Interestingly, it's less about specific resolutions to lose weight, quit smoking, give up internet porn, watch less TV, or read more books than it is about learning to live in the moment. The point of the issue was all about micromanagement. The editors did concede their target audience (women who are 'having it all') must use time and resource management skills to just make their lives and the people they are responsible for function, but micromanagement turns into helicopter parenting, as well as constantly striving for some definition of perfection, and sleep deprivation. The magazine is divided into sections, and the 'food' section always has five ordinary nutritious meals you can cook - they will even send you a weekly grocery list. The January issue had five meals you didn't have to cook. All in all, a different twist on the New Year.
As I've aged, I've discovered a certain satisfaction in being here to start a New Year. It still feels like being poised for another great adventure as the New Year kicks in. So....while vowing not to make idiotic resolutions, I am going to try and blog more consistently in the coming year. My writer's block is still sort of with me, but it's waning and I don't feel quite so paralyzed. Must be the starting of a New Year that's invigorating me. Happy New Year!
