The new year is knocking at our doors, which
like a toddler trying to walk will have many ups and downs - and will eventually
knock over everything in the house! And yet we survive, looking forward to
another year.
At the beginning of a new year it is the traditional
time to make
your New Year’s resolutions. But for us more experienced folks, we may ask “Why
do we need New Year’s resolutions? Why would we want to change? I’m happy with my
situation, and besides as Doris Day sang, “Que Sera, Sera, Whatever Will Be
Will Be”, right?
But consider
all the possibilities for this new year. There might be some new habits you
want to make or some old ones you want to change. What was the doctor telling
you? Enroll in an exercise class - that yoga or Tai Chi class that can improve
your balance? Eat better - by preparing healthy recipes found at OSU’s “Food
Hero” website? Or get out of the house more – spending time with old friends and
making new ones?
There might also be new activities
you want to experience: walking unfamiliar trails in the Gorge, taking trips into
Portland to watch a NW Senior Theater musical, or building Lego structures with
your grandkids.
Yet
you may still feel New Year’s resolutions are a great waste of time; and you just
want to keep doing the same old same old – and there’s nothing wrong with that.
It is familiar and in a world that seems to be constantly changing, the same
old same old feels reassuring.
But if
you do decide New Year's resolutions might not be such a bad idea, here are
nine simple tips from the Happiness Project’s website,
www.happiness-project.com, that could help.
1. Write your resolution down and be specific.
Instead of "make new friends" describe how - such as "start a
movie group" or "join an exercise class".
2. Review your resolution constantly so you
won't forget.
3. Hold yourself accountable. Don't make
excuses.
4. Think big. Make your resolution inspiring
and exciting.
5. Or think small. Something simple and
doable.
6. Separate your resolution, no matter how
small, into manageable tasks.
7. Work on your resolution every day. It is
easier to do something consistently than to skip days
8.
Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. The best exercise it the one
you will actually do.
9. As mentioned before, don't make excuses, but
if you keep breaking your resolution, no use constantly beating yourself up.
Try a different approach that will get you to the same goal.
New Year’s resolutions are an opportunity to branch out and
experience life in ways you may never had considered before. These
nine simple tips can help you set and achieve your goals for a new year,
whether seeking new experiences or creating new habits, that just might improve
your health and help you live a little better and longer. As Carl Bard once
said, “Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start
from now and make a brand new beginning."
The
name of the 1972 film in which an aged luxury liner on her final voyage is
capsized by a giant wave on New Year’s Eve was the Poseidon Adventure. And
since last week I was at my niece’s wedding in Chicago (where contrary to what
you would think the weather was expected to be warmer than The Dalles), I will
announce the quilt raffle ticket winner next week.
Once a
month for the next several months I will be focusing on local businesses that
have gone and been replaced by a different but similar type of business at the
same location. (My apologies to the newcomers who have arrived in The Dalles in
the last twenty years.) For this week’s “Remember When” questions, what was the
previous name for The Dalles Health and Rehabilitation Center (even before it
was called Evergreen); and what was the name of business that was located where
Holsteins is today? Email your answer to mcseniorcenter@gmail.com, leave a
message at 541-296-4788 or drop it off with a 1979 map of The Dalles.
Well,
it’s been another week, trying to be optimistic in a world of cynicism. Until
we meet again, some good advice I saw on a poster at The Springs, “Believe something
wonderful is going to happen.”
"One
resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the
little things." John Burroughs
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