What shall we do? What shall we change? Should we change?
Do you make resolutions? I never made them with any sense of seriousness. I guess I knew I would never hold to them all that well. There were flashes of losing weight, exercising regularly, being more organized. Yeah, they still don’t work. I don’t even write them down. Actually, I am short and fat and although I was once an athlete, I am now an old woman with way too much to do in my life.
I once was very organized. I never left work that my desk wasn’t clean and things were filed in the proper place. All I had to do the next morning was pull one basket toward me and take out the first item. I had left things in proper sequence from the evening before. Today, I have three baskets, overflowing. Three calendars to be updated and checked and no way do they match up.
I would like to be more organized—like I used to be. When I was working 8 to 10 hours a day, I had to be organized. When I left work there was another world I had to take care of. Now I work 12 to 18 hours a day and you can’t tell I’ve done a dern thing. (Dern, that is southern for damn.)
Time has a way of taking care of a lot of things. Given enough time my whole house will be filled with cat fur balls, enough dust to write the Magna Carta in, twice, and a short, fat, old woman with still too much to do.
Maybe I should have only one New Year’s Resolution. Saying no. No is one of the hardest words for me to pronounce. My friends know this. That is why they call. Sometimes I wonder if I hear from these people because they want to see how we are or if they just need something. I know that isn’t true. When Snell and I were so sick with Covid and he thought he had the right to die on me, friends dropped off food, gathered out mail, and offered help.
“No, I appreciate your asking.” “No, I’m sorry I wish I could.” “Thank you thinking of me, but no, I can’t.”
How hard was that to write? Not at all. How hard is it to say out loud? REALLY hard. I must practice.
Whatever your new you is, smile and think with pride “I am me. I have another day to be the best me I can be.” That is best resolution.
A southern humorist, Marlene is the 2020 Georgia Independent Author of the Year for Life is Hard, Soften It with Laughter and 2021 GIAYA for A Place with a Past. Marlene is available for speaking engagements. You may reach her through her website www.MsRatWrites.com.
