|
Politics Is Life |
|
A New Year = New Chances January, 2004
Is it me, or does it seem as if we're ringing in the New Year every six months, rather than every 12 months, as we get older? There's something sort of scary about staring 2004 in the face…when there's so much past behind me. If you're old enough to have held a comb, or brush or stirring spoon to your lips as you mimicked the Supremes' "Stop in the Name of Love;" or, if you're a male, and remember throwing a towel around your shoulders and sinking to your knees as you sang James Brown's infamous "It's a Man's World;" then, likely, your years…even your days, have already started coming at you in 3-D magnitude…at an almost horrifying speed. It's called getting older, and nothing reminds you of that hard truth more than the New Year. I suppose that's something to be celebrated, too…but, it is also enough to make us sit up and take stock of our lives; a time to seriously evaluate what it is we have to celebrate. For those of us whose sand in the hour glass is rapidly emptying down to the bottom, this New Year could mean: 1) You now have a lot less time to decide what you want to be when you grow up; 2) Your opportunities to "fix" the mistakes you made in your youthful dalliances are quickly dissipating, and, unfortunately, 3) The boundless number of fish in the sea we once heard about, have either moved on, died off, or are busy swimming after minnows half their age. It's time we accept the fact that we're moving closer to that final sunset, and, hardly at a point where we'll be enjoying endless Tequilas and sunrises. To be blunt: We've become the provincial duck paddling under water, trying to make sure there will be another New Year to celebrate. And, yet…all is not lost. There is always that thing about accidentally getting it right in the first place, thus, not having to worry about the last place. Some of us actually fall into that category, but most of us don't. Most of us will have to work until the very end to to make it right. And, being an eternal optimist, I know we can. In fact, that's what New Year resolutions are all about: Refusing to give up, simply because the past year didn't pan out exactly the way we expected. The eternal optimisty, in fact, always believes that each January 1st sun will be a little brighter, and our luck a little better. A part of this traditional celebrating and list-making is resolving to improve upon yesterday, and even today, to make our tomorrows the best they can be. The problem with New Year's resolutions, you see, is that it gives us ample time to mess up, fall off our wagons, do all the things we said we wouldn't do the year before because we know we can rehash those old resolutions next time around. In reality, we should be making daily resolutions. We shouldn't wait for that first day of each year to decide what we need to change about ourselves. Don't most of us know what it is we need to change about ourselves 364 days ahead of time? People have gained 100 pounds in 365 days; contracted deathly diseases and died; done irreparable damage to their livers, kidneys and other important parts of their anatomies, in 364 days. No, let's not wait until January 1, to decide what needs to be changed. Let's wake up each day, look in our mirrors, study our checkbooks, assess our relationships, count our true friends, remember our dreams…and resolve to do something right now. Besides, we're much more serious about what we decide to change now, than the things we decide can wait until next New Year's days. Not that making New Year's resolutions isn't fun and cathartic. Lists give us hope, and sometimes, if they work, they force us to do something about our wishy-washy selves. So, in this spirit of renewal that the New Year brings, I offer a short list that might just hit home with you. Lists are good, even if we do nothing but tack them in front of our computers, next to our bed; or on the mirror we have to look into each day. They're loving reminders that we once made a decision to try: What about this list, for everyday…not just New Year's Day:
The world's greatest athlete, Muhammad Ali, said: "Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill." Happy New Year, and Good Luck on your resolutions…and your dreams… Janis F. Kearney is a Chicago writer, former journalist and diarist to President Bill Clinton. A Harvard W.E.B. Du Bois Fellow, she is currently completing William Jefferson Clinton: From Hope to Harlem; and a personal memoir, Cotton Field of Dreams. Kearney Communications 5138 S. Kenwood Ave.#2 Chicago, IL 60615 (773) 493-2007 --ph (773) 493-5747 -- fax janisfk@aol.com |
