Scientists say, or I know I read once that time seems more compact to us as we age because we have more to compare it to a life time of time. Whereas an infant or young child may have had only a few months or years. Supposedly that's part of why they can seem so upset over loss of creature comfort hunger or sleeplessness feels endless to them.
Well, anyway none of us are getting any younger so there's no time like the present to work on the new and improved you. For those of you who feel you don't need to improve and are perfect just the way you are, would you please let yourselves be known to us who are less than perfect. We could use your help in 1997.
I'm not sure what all of my new years' resolutions will be this year. I do need to be a little more consistent with my walking or stretching exercises, and I could name a lot more but Norm would have to add a couple of pages to this weeks' edition to fit them all in. Not that I'm that unhappy with myself; I just view my preoccupation with self-improvement as an ongoing kind of thing. Kind of like road construction in Illinois there used to be two seasons winter and road construction now they just do it all year long. Of course some of this preoccupation comes from my work and writing this column, (Thanks Norm). Someday it seems I'm a walking library of "health and wellness tidbits." I can think of worse things, just not all the time.
This time of year I look through my daily personal and health journal. Looking at a years' worth of entries I can see patterns that are either healthy growth experiences or things that seem dorky and I wonder why I let that upset me. Yet there's comfort in that part too. To know that what seemed overwhelming and horrible when read later with a quieter mind really wasn't that earth-shattering after all. Maybe I'm not looking for change but personal growth experiences. Oh, now I'm sounding really heady!
Well, whatever your resolutions are, be gentle with yourself and your body. Don't let your ego get in the way of making some positive change. Yes, you can loose 30 pounds, you can stop drinking or stop smoking, you can rebuild a broken relationship with a family member but don't expect a long standing problem of years to be resolved in a few months. Be happy with the progress you make no matter how slow it might be. Work at it, write about it, talk about it, or read a book on it but remember the mark of insanity in a sane man is to keep doing the same thing over and over and expect that things will be different!! DAH.
And as you wind up your year remember to be thankful for the blessings in your life. The holiday season can be joyous, it can be sad, but we all have things we can be grateful for. You, my readership, have become an important part of me as I would not be pouring all this stuff out on paper if it weren't for all of your positive comments and feedback. So I am grateful for you. May your new year be filled with joy and love and health and if your year sees a new and improved you, that's great. If not, I love you anyway, warts and all! Keep the cards and letters and e-mail coming and I'll keep writing. Till next year, Rebecca.
