Holiday Joy

As I decorated the house for the holidays (I was late this year) I stopped and looked over all of the holiday cards we received. They boasted great photos of friends and family along with wishes for happy holidays.

I am embarrassed to admit that I haven’t sent out a holiday greeting in years. It’s not that I don’t wish each and every one of my friends happy holidays; I do. In years past I would take the time to sit down and address cards to friends and family. However, over the last couple of years I haven’t taken the time to do that. Consequently, I find myself looking over the cards of people who despite being equally busy as I found the time to wish us a Merry Christmas. 

I did discover that procrastinators (like me) are turning to sending out New Year’s wishes. Keeping that in mind, to all of my friends and family who are reading this (and shame on you if you aren’t) I say Happy New Year! May it be filled with health and prosperity.

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This is the time of year for making New Year’s resolutions. The most common appear to be exercising more, eating healthier, saving money, improving mental well-being, losing weight, learning new skills, spending time with family, getting organized, reading more and reducing social media use.These are noble to be sure and, if followed, will result in people who are less stressed and probably happier. 

In Time Magazine, a neuroscientist explains that making resolutions is the brain’s way “to think about our own thinking.” He suggests breaking New Year’s resolutions into “manageable parts.” In other words, if you discover in February that you haven’t hit a benchmark you’ve put upon yourself, don’t worry about it. Hopefully you’ll get around to it. 

“Some of the most important options we need to recognize include changing our mind, changing our goals and even quitting things we care about,” the article states. “After all, life involves balancing family, work, health [and] friends.”

Being a procrastinator, these words are salve for my soul. It gives me the freedom to change my mind and reassess my goals – and just kicking some of them to the curb.

However, I also recognize the importance of getting things done. If I just sat around and thought about doing something rather than doing something nothing would get done. I typically don’t do that.

But that leads me to a burning question: where did I put the TV remote? I’m sure there’s something on TV I want to watch.