Well, here we are – the calendar has changed to a new year, as well as to a new decade.
We all hear and see the ads out there to make January each year a time to create a new you, start new habits, do something new, lose weight, make more money, all those groundbreaking efforts.
Those are all great things to want to achieve, but I have a novel idea and question – why is change needed?
There’s a line in the stellar 1987 holiday movie “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” where John Candy’s character Del Griffith says, “I’m not changing. I like me.”
While the context of the quote doesn’t necessarily relate to new year’s resolutions, it’s something I think about every January.
Sure, starting a new year is a way to refresh a few things, sharpen up some topics, maybe try and break bad habits, but why can’t we just be that way the whole year through?
I mean, can’t we live our daily lives to the best of our ability 24/7/365?
Can’t we try to eat better, exercise more, stay in touch with friends and loved ones, find more positivity, let bad feelings go, and just be good people on a daily basis in other months besides January?
I know, I know. Maybe I’m overanalyzing. Maybe I’m not. You decide.
And let me just say this. From experience, it’s harder to preach positivity to others and to learn that lifestyle once you have kids, which make it all a challenge – a challenge worth facing head on.
There is never EVER a dull moment at our house with three kids, three dogs, three cats and our full calendar.
There are times a good nap on a Sunday afternoon or going to bed at 8 p.m. just sounds like the greatest thing ever. Just have the kids turn off the lights, clean up the kitchen and take the dogs outside.
All that said, find it in you each day of the year to simply be a good person, a good citizen. It’ll all be worth it. I promise.
Like Tom Hanks’ Jimmy Dugan character says in the 1992 baseball film “A League Of Their Own,” “Anything worth doing is worth doing right.”

— Matt Mackinder