The Way I See It: Things I’d like to see in the New Year

Some folks like to make “resolutions” at the beginning of each New Year, and that is fine if you are one of them. I, however, am not one to do so. The reason is that, more often then not, I would find myself making the kinds of resolutions that were doomed for failure.

As an example, how many times have I said: “This is the year I am going to lose those twenty pounds I have needed to lose since, well…for awhile.”

Bottom line: If I have not lost them before now, chances are I won’t lose them this year either.

Trust me, I know about this. Every year for, oh maybe the last ten years, my doctor has told me that I was in good health but needed to lose twenty pounds to be at the ideal weight for a person my height. Since I doubt that I will get any taller, I have tried about every diet known to man (and then some) to at least get close to that ideal weight.

The results were….well, you judge for yourself.

I gained weight on the Atkins Diet. I found the only way I could make myself drink Slim Fast was to eat a doughnut with it, which kind of defeated the purpose.

One time I even went on a bananas and coconut diet. I didn’t lose much weight, but I did develop an almost uncontrollable urge to climb trees.

With the results of my “resolutions” often less then positive, I stopped making them and instead now come up with what I call “New Years Wishes”.

At this point you might ask, “What is the difference between a wish and a resolution?”

That’s a fair question. For me, a wish is something you would like to see happen, while a resolution implies that you are going to change something in your lifestyle.

I am not good at lifestyle changes. I finally know that, so instead of resolutions I make a list of those things I wish would happen in the coming year.

Today I want to share three with you.

The first is, I am a huge football fan. My wish for the next football season is that there would be a lot less chest-thumping, end-zone dancing, and other kinds of on-the-field-antics by the players. When I see those kinds of displays I just want to say: “Making that kind of a play is the reason you have a scholarship" (or in the case of the pros, "the reason you get paid such an outrageous amount of money”).

There should be nothing in particular to celebrate about making a good tackle, a good run, or a great touchdown catch. That’s what you are supposed to do. That’s why you were recruited and got the full scholarship or the million-dollar contract.

Rather than make such a “hey, look-at-me” big deal about it, I would much rather have the player take the attitude that, “this is something I do all the time.", then get ready for the next play.

Aside from football, I would like for, nation-wide, all of us have a sense of “we-are-in-this-together” attitude as we work through the difficult times this country faces. And that begins with those we elect to lead us. To me, it does not matter what your political persuasion might be, the over-riding concern should be the welfare of the country, not the welfare of a certain group or faction.

Too often all we seem to hear coming from those we elect has little, if anything, to do with what is best for the country. This seems especially true of those who hold seats on the national level. Once they get to Washington, it is as if they forget what it was like for them before they were elected, and that is a shame.

So, the second wish I have for this New Year is that those we elect to leadership positions, whether it be on the local, state, or national level, never forget who they represent.

My last wish for this New Year is that for all twelve months, all of us treat each other as we do at holiday time. Wouldn’t it be amazing if all year long each of us showed the generosity, the smiles, the unselfish giving of time and sharing of gifts that make the Thanksgiving and Christmas season so wonderful?

Talk about something that would change this country. This kind of a caring-for-others kind of attitude, at every level, might just surprise us at what could be accomplished. I know of no reason why it should be reserved for the last few weeks of the year. Do you? If so, then please share it with me, as I would like to know.

Well, there they are. My three wishes for this New Year.

But you know what? As much as I would like to go through one college or pro-football game and enjoy the great plays that are made for what they are, not for the individual show they seem to inspire the player to put on, I would rather at least one of my other two wishes would happen.

Because if either one of them did, I might even be inspired enough to give a chest-thump or two myself.