I was sitting with friends at Space in Evanston last night listening to Otis Clay and his band play their second set of the night, the set that would span the crossing from the old year into the new, the tired into the fresh, the used up into the unused, the pessimistic into the optimistic. This was my first New Year's out in many years for the past bunch of years I have played the role as my kids designated driver. As they in their youthfulness went out with their friends for an evening of partying, I would sit by the phone and watch TV or listen to music, sleep with my cell phone at my head in the event any of them were in a situation where they, for safety sake, needed me to pick them up. As was the case, I only needed to pick one of them up one time and that was due to challenging driving conditions in a blizzard not to inebriation. My kids are older now and behave sensibly. So I could go out, one of my kids now an almost nondrinker, stepped into the role of designated driver and told me to go out and have a good time...and to drink responsibly. It's gratifying to see the lessons I worked so hard to instill in them have found good soil and are growing strong.
As is tradition, Otis and the band played Auld Lang Syne at the appointed hour, we toasted with champagne, hugged and kissed, sent texts to those loved ones that were celebrating the new year in other locals. At the conclusion of the song, Otis talked of New Year's Resolutions. I find the making of New Year's resolutions a practice bordering on the absurd, a practice I make sure never to engage in. If the statistics are true, the vast majority of the resolutions are done and dusted a few days into the New Year, some last as long as a month before fading into forgotten memory, and most might as well never have been uttered come March. I see evidence of this every year at my gym. All those people resolving to lose weight, to get fit, infest my gym in January such that the regulars can barely get to any of the equipment. By then end of the month it's still crowded but not sardine packed and by March all is back to normal with the people who work to stay fit on regular basis.Picking a day that comes once a year to make a change in your life is arbitrary and arbitrary does not stick when making life change. Picking the one day a year to begin something new is the procrastinators method of making changes, put off until late what needs to be done immediately. If a change is needed then make the change as soon as you notice the change is needed. When I realized I needed to get my body in shape, I didn't wait for January 01 to make changes. I started riding my bicycle right away and, once the weather changed making riding a hit or miss activity, joined a gym to ensure I could keep up the routine. When I decided I needed to learn more about leadership to improve my performance as a father and employee, I dove right into books discussing the subject and began attending an annual conference to improve my leadership in the places I was already leading.
One does not decide to make a resolution just once if it's going to stick and become a lifestyle change. The decision for a resolution must be made every day. When an alcoholic comes to the understanding that he needs to stop drinking, he must make a daily resolution to not go near the bottle. If you want to read more, run a marathon, lose weight start today. Every morning when you wake up, resolve again to engage in the area you want to grow.
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