By Norma Kirkpatrick

I like new things, new starts, new chances, new ideas, but only if those new things are better than the old ones.  If they aren’t, they are like trying to restart an old car with a weak battery. You probably know exactly the steps required to get the car started as you look around waiting for someone to give you a jump, while standing there with the cables in your hand.  Face it, it is time to either get a new battery, a new car, or both; out with the old and in with the new.
A New Year means we used up 365 days of the old year, and we get to try again, to start over; or possibly start anew.  If we are afraid to make plans with a challenge, we will probably just try to crank up the old car, because we know what is wrong with it.  Dealing with the familiar means we don’t have to change anything or try to better the situation, unless we are forced to do so.
I don’t mean to be discouraging, but it is true that most folks have given up on themselves when it comes to making New Year resolutions.  They have tried before and didn’t last long, because they either had to give up something they like to do, or start something they didn’t want to do.  There is that scary word “change” again.  To quote an old English proverb:  “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.”  Wishes won’t get it and no one will give it to you.  Keep your eye on the goal with dogged determination, every day, with resolve.  That’s why it’s called a “resolution.”
Good luck, as you head toward the individual finish line toward the change or changes you have chosen for yourself.  There will be lots of people on the starting line; but only the determined will reach the finish line.