Tag Archives: New Year’s Resolutions

Posted in Sports

Lack of Gridiron in the Diet

By Comments:6 Comments

by Bob Sparrow

I’m trying to make the transition . . . wait, NO I’m not ‘transitioning’, I’m simply trying to transition from watching football 4-5 days a week to watching football zero days a week FOR THE NEXT SEVEN MONTHS!!!. This is not going to be easy! I thought the college football season ended in Cinderella-like fashion with the Curt Cignetti-led Indiana Hoosiers winning their first ever National Championship behind Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, Fernando Mendosa. Great stuff!!

I’m writing this before the Super Bowl, so I’ll have no highlights of the game (hopefully there will be highlights), the commercials (they could be more entertaining than the game) or the half-time performance (which has already caused some controversy). I will write the end of the blog after the game – I’m sure I’ll have a pithy comment or two.

Jordon Hundson and Bill Belichick

For me the Super Bowl is less Cinderella and more Ursula, the half-woman, half-octopus, from The Little Mermaid. I know, I’m bummed because the 49ers didn’t make it, nor did any of the other California teams, the Ram or the Chargers. I realize there was a West Coast team in the Super Bowl, and there was a West Coast player in quarterback, Sam Darnold, who is a San Clemente, Orange County guy; but my Pete Carroll hangover, and the fact that the Seahawks kicked the 49ers out of the playoffs this year, made it hard for me to root for them. But I’m not particularly a New England fan either. Haven’t we all been exposed to enough Patriot history this past year with 74-year-old, ex-coach, Bill Belichick canoodling with his 24-year-old girlfriend, plus having to listen to Tom Brady’s pedantic color-commentating? I digress. I do like Patriot quarterback Drake Maye and if the Patriots won, Mike Vrabel is the only person to win the Super Bowl as a player, an assistant coach and a head coach – but you probably heard all that if you watched the game.

The Super Bowl doesn’t just mark the end of football season, Super Bowl parties officially mark the end of my New Year’s Resolutions – way too much eating, drinking and weight gaining! As they say in sports . . . ‘Wait ’til next year’!

My usual remedy for ‘Lackofgridiron’ in my diet or Couch Potato Syndrome, is trying to pretend that PGA golf is just as exciting . . . it isn’t! But this year we have a one-step program to help bridge the gap between football and . . . next year’s football – the Winter Olympics.  This year’s Olympics are coming to us from Milan and picturesque Cortina d’Ampezzo, which is often called the ‘Queen of the Dolomites’ – part of the northern Italian Alps. Beautiful! So, forget about ‘Off Sides’, ‘Safety Blitz’ and ‘Roughing the Passer’ and start thinking of Double Axles, Moguls and “Gosh it looks cold over there.”

Much as we try to get away from politics, and one would think that the Olympics should be a good place to do that, this year we find that Russia is banned from competing due to their invasion of Ukraine. However, Russian athletes, who voice to the Olympic Committee that they do not support the war, can compete as ‘Individual Neutral Athletes’ – no Russian flag ceremony if they win, but back home they will face Russian roulette if they lose.

Post Super Bowl notes:

The Game: I can’t really comment on the game, it was so boring in the first half I fell asleep. The Commercials: For a cost of between $8 – $10 million dollars for 30 seconds, I was expecting more – pretty blah. The Prop bets: I had a tip that the Gatorade was going to be purple, so I bet it big . . . it was green. The Half Time Show: My Spanish is a little weak, so I’m still trying to translate Bad Bunny’s song. Nah, I was still sleeping.

Posted in Holiday observations

The Resolution Elephant in the Room

By Comments:8 Comments

by Bob Sparrow

We have stuffed ourselves since we knowingly bought more candy than we knew we were going to need for those two trick-or-treaters that come at Halloween.  We’ve foolishly thought that we’d really ‘try to watch it’ this year during the ‘Holiday Season’ – we didn’t. So now we’re at a place where we’ve been almost every year – time to get serious about exercise, losing some weight, eating healthier and OK maybe drinking a little less going forward. We’re thinking like this because we’re finally going to put this year behind us and get a new lease on life at the beginning of a new year. We’re thinking, “New Year, New Me.” Even though we know we’re going to bring that same old ‘me’ into another new year.

     But hope springs eternal, so we go through the exercise of either mentally making or actually writing down, some “New Year’s Resolutions”. Perhaps, like me, you just think casually about a few things that you could improve and rely on ‘hope’ to somehow make this new year different.

     So, I would be the last one to give you tips on how to make better resolutions or how to accomplish those that you did or may have already made or are thinking about making. No, I’m just going to offer some observations that I’ve found about resolutions and hope we can all get a good laugh at this way-too-frequent fruitless exercise.

  • On “Healthy Eating”:
          A friend of mine once vowed to “eat clean” starting January 1. On January 2, she proudly meal‑prepped grilled chicken and broccoli… then rewarded herself for her discipline with a slice of cheesecake. By January 4, she was meal‑prepping cheesecake.
  • The Gym Membership
         A guy I know signed up for a gym membership on January 1 with the enthusiasm of a motivational speaker.
    He went once.
    He spent the rest of the year referring to the monthly charge as his “charitable contribution to fitness.”
  • The “Read More Books” Resolution
         A lady decided she’d read a book a week.
    She bought 12 books on January 1.
    By February, she had read… the receipts.
  • The Minimalist Makeover
         A woman decided she’d declutter her entire house.
    She started with her closet, found a sweater she forgot she owned, tried it on, loved it, and spent the rest of the day online shopping for clothes that would “match the sweater’s vibe.”
  • The Meditation Journey
         A man downloaded a meditation app and promised to meditate every morning.
    Day 1: “This is so peaceful.”
    Day 2: “I think I’m doing it wrong.”
    Day 3: Fell asleep and woke up late for work.
    Day 4: Deleted the app because “it was stressing him out.”
  • The Sugar Detox
         A guy swore off sugar for the whole month of January.
    On January 3, someone brought cookies to the office.
    He ate one.
    Then he ate six more to “get rid of the temptation.”

You may have your own ‘Resolution Responses’, whether you set yourself up for failure or have an unusual ‘success story’, we’d love to hear it.

Either way, we wish you a most happy and healthy 2026.

Posted in opinion

WITHER OUR JUNK FOOD?

By Comments:2 Comments

By Suzanne Sparrow Watson

Here we are in a new year, which means we are all on a diet and exercise plan again. At least until this Friday. The second Friday of the year is known as “quitters’ day”, a day in which all healthy new year’s resolutions fly out the window. And little wonder. In large swaths of the country the weather is wet and/or freezing, which makes long walks impossible. Going to the gym this time of year risks exposure to every known respiratory illness known to man. If, as my brother suggested last week, we reorganized our holidays and made New Year’s Day in July, this wouldn’t be a problem. I’m guessing we could postpone “quitters’ day” until at least September, when football season starts. Which brings me to the second reason resolutions go out the window this week: it coincides with prime football watching. Sure, we could indulge in carrot sticks and celery while watching a game, but I think it’s almost a law to eat pizza, wings and potato chips, lest you risk your team not making it to the Super Bowl.

If you are one of the millions of people who are taking one of the new GLP-1 weight loss drugs (Wegovy, Ozempic, et al) to boost your new year’s weight loss goal, you are actually having a detrimental effect on the economy. Last week the Cornell SC Johnson school of business released their latest research on the nation’s eating habits. As a result of these drugs households with at least one GLP-1 user reduce grocery spending by approximately 6% within six months of adoption, with higher-income households reducing spending by nearly 9%. These reductions are driven by significantly larger decreases in purchases of calorie-dense, processed items, including a 11% decline in savory snacks. In contrast, they observed directional increases in nutrient-dense purchases, such as yogurt and fresh produce. They also examined eating habits at fast-food chains and coffee shops and found reductions at breakfast and especially during dinner times. They concluded that their findings highlight the potential for GLP-1 medications to significantly reshape consumer food demand, a trend with increasingly important implications for the food industry.

Okay, people, can we all see where this is going? Clearly these GLP-1 drugs are a great treatment for people who are obese and/or diabetic. But I know some people who are only a touch overweight and are taking them so they can lose the 15 pounds that have been sitting on their hips since the 80’s. If everyone who is just slightly overweight starts taking drugs and eschewing junk food, pretty soon we’ll live in a world without hot wings, Big Macs, or cookies! And then where would we be? Do your part and buy a bag of Oreos this week and enjoy a good football game.

Of course I have my tongue in cheek with this, and I thoroughly subscribe to healthy eating and exercise, but beware of unintended consequences. Who wants to live in a world where we can’t buy cake at the grocery store?

Posted in Holiday observations

Those Pesky Resolutions

By Comments:7 Comments

by Bob Sparrow

Definition of New Year’s Resolutions:

A tradition where people set goals or intentions for self-improvement, aiming to bring about positive changes in various areas such as health, relationships, habits, career, personal development, or lifestyle choices.

But you and I both know what the real definition of ‘New Year’s resolutions’ is:

A list of improvements that your spouse has reminded you of, multiple times, that are both created and then forgotten during the first several weeks of the year. 

Yes, this is the time of year when we like to think we have some control over our future and so we set goals to be a better version of ourselves going forward.  For most of us, the die has been cast long ago and there’s little we can do about it now, but hey, I don’t want to start the year on a downer, so let’s talk about your resolutions.

What?! You’ve made no resolutions!  Then you’re probably wiser than most as Forbes Health/One says 91% of Americans fail at their New Year’s resolutions.  So, yes, it’s probably best that you didn’t commit to successfully juice cleansing again this year.

But, we here at From a Birds’ Eye View are here to help, so in the off-chance that you made some resolutions, here are some tips for either adjusting, adding to, or eliminating them altogether.

Lose weight – it’s always at the top of your list, and I want to get this one out of the way early, because you’re getting older and most likely more sedentary, absent a limb amputation, at this time next year, you’re going to weigh about the same, maybe a few pounds more – deal with it.

 Cut down on alcohol consumption – try ‘Dry January __’ – Notice I left a space at the end of ‘January’ so you can later put in a number like 8th, and thus achieve your goal by not drinking on January 8th.

Conserve water – instead of shortening your showers, eliminate them altogether – buy more deodorant

Increase antioxidants – You may not fully understand what antioxidants are or what they do, but you know you should be increasing them since they protect your body from the damaging effects of free radicals.  So . . . eat more dark chocolate.

Greet friends like your dog greets you – Commit to greeting your friends with the enthusiasm that your dog greets you when you first get home; but without humping their legs

Increase mental acuity – This year, think of another password other than ‘Password’

Drink more water – Don’t forget that beer is mostly water

OK, how about some real advice for achieving those pesky resolutions:

  1. You’ll make some tough goals, but also make some that you’ll enjoy
  2. Don’t just set the goal, define how you are going to achieve it. Most of us want to eat better – describe exactly what that means
  3. Rather than adding things you’ll do, look for things to subtract from your life that would improve it
  4. Forgive your failures and celebrate your small successes

Again, just as an aid, here’s an example of a nice short list of resolutions:

  1. Stop making lists

B. Be more consistent

4. Learn to count

Happiest of New Years to you and your family!

Posted in opinion

I RESOLVE TO DISSOLVE

By Comments:1 Comment

By Suzanne Sparrow Watson

If you’re like me, you’re avoiding the scale this week. All of the eating and drinking over the holidays has taken its toll on my hips.  I don’t need a scale to tell me that – my zipper does a fine job of letting me know I’ve overindulged.  I always make an attempt to form resolutions at the beginning of the year, a time when I feel particularly guilty about my mental and physical state.  Most years the ink isn’t dry on the paper I’ve written them on before I’ve broken one.  I thought this was true for everyone.  But John C. Norcross, a professor of psychology at the University of Scranton has researched New Year’s resolutions and finds that contrary to popular belief, a fair number of people actually do stick to their good intentions.  In fact, in a study he conducted of people who wanted to change a behavior, he discovered that more than 40% of those with resolutions stuck with them, while only 4% of the group who didn’t make a resolution achieved the behavioral changes they had in mind.

In a larger study in Sweden a professor learned that how New Year’s resolutions were framed helped determine how effective they were. For example, if you want to spend less time on your phone, you have a better chance if you commit to reading a book than if you delete Instagram.  He discovered that starting a new activity is “stickier” than quitting an old one. The new activity quickly transforms from a chore to a habit. The upshot of both studies was that if we want to keep a resolution longer than say, January 10th, it needs to be specific and realistic.  One person vowed to begin flossing his teeth every day and a year later he was still on track.  That makes me wonder what took him so long to perform this basic hygiene task, but as with all resolutions, we shouldn’t judge.  Besides, I’m sure this guy’s dentist was thrilled so actually he made two people happy that year.

A software developer based in Australia built an app called Streaks, a to-do list that functions a bit like a game. When users assign themselves daily tasks, they suddenly feel an urge to complete them: they want to extend their streaks. I get it.  I do the same thing with my Fitbit app – trying to extend the number of days I do at least 10,000 steps a day.  Two years ago, I was up to 246 days but then had to have some minor surgery.  It was not a big deal, but just enough that I couldn’t exercise for a day.  Since then, I’ve gotten to 109 days and then broken it again.  I think my streak on Candy Crush is now greater than my step goal.

This year I’ve resolved to get my walking streak up again – perhaps I’ll accomplish it every day this year.  Or not.  The only thing I can really commit to is eating cake once a month, watching dog videos, and binging programs on Britbox.  You can hold me accountable for those last three and I’ll report back next January.

Posted in Motivational

It’s Not the WHAT or the HOW, but . . .

By Comments:2 Comments

by Bob Sparrow

This week, as you’re reading this, I’ll hopefully be cavorting on the island of Maui, which I’m sure you’ll hear about in a couple of weeks.  But in the meantime, I wanted to perhaps provide a public service, or maybe a private service, to those readers who made a list of New Year’s resolutions – things like losing weight, eating better, exercising, being a better ______ (fill in the blank).

I don’t typically make a list of New Year’s resolutions, and when I do, like most of us, I rarely follow through on them.  I was inspired this year to at least make a couple, by listening to Darren Hardy, who was editor of Success Magazine and is a motivational speaker, who emails a daily (Monday-Friday) video, which is only about 4 to 5 minutes long, dealing with various subjects; it is called ‘DarrenDaily’.  I’ve listened to it every weekday morning for the past five years.  I have to admit that many of the sessions are targeted to younger, climbing-the-ladder, leading-a-team, types, but there is also plenty of things for old codgers like me to digest.

While what I’m about to share with you is not revolutionary, in fact, those who do make New Year’s resolutions in some form, may already do this, but it was new to me.  By way of explanation, the following is a brief, edited version of the parable that Darren shared last week regarding goals.

Long ago a tribe from the Andes mountains plundered their rival tribe in the lowlands, stole a baby and took it to their home in the mountains.  The strongest and bravest of the lowland tribesman attempted to get the baby back but couldn’t handle the high altitude and the rugged trails up the mountain.  After days of trying, they gave up and decided to return home.  As they were leaving, they saw a woman coming down the trail with the baby on her back.  In awe, they asked the woman how she did it.  As she continued by them, she said, “It wasn’t your baby”.

The lesson: The power of your ‘WHY’ is the most important part of any goal; all of your WHATs and HOWs will be meaningless until your ‘WHYs’ are powerful enough to overcome the obstacles that you will face in getting to your goals.

After listening to this, I went back to my two resolutions and saw that I had only written down WHAT I wanted to accomplish this year and HOW, but not the WHY.  Adding the WHY definitely gave the WHAT and HOW more meaning and increased by desire to seriously try to accomplish both of my goals.

If you’re interested in getting Darren’s video publication sent to your email each weekday, you can go to DarrenDaily@darrenhardy.com and subscribe – it’s free.

Wishing you all a Happier New Year.  May you make a positive impact this year.

 

 

Posted in opinion

ENOUGH

By Comments:9 Comments

By Suzanne Sparrow Watson

I’m writing this post on New Year’s Day and thinking about all that occurred in 2020.  I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling a bit shell shocked from the past 12 months.  We had such high hopes going into the year – a new decade before us seemed so full of potential.  The biggest controversy a year ago was the guy buying his wife a Peloton for Christmas.  Little did we know that he would turn out to be the smartest guy in the room.  We got a bit of foreshadowing of a bad year when Kobe died in January but we persevered, thinking it was a one-off piece of bad news.  Then in March, everything shifted and life as we knew it changed.  But for better or worse, we’ve made it through and with a vaccine on the horizon I am hopeful for a better year.  Or, more realistically, a better half year.  I’ve resigned myself to the notion that the first half of 2021 is going to look a whole lot like 2020.  Still, it’s a new year and worthy of some resolutions.

NOT me after months of being at home

With the new year approaching there are lots of people opining about how to make 2021 a better year.  The best piece of advice I read was to find your “enough”. Not as in, “I’ve had enough cake” because we all know there is no such thing.  Instead, the author suggested that we all learn to be grateful for having “enough” of something – food, shelter, friendship, health, money.  Personally, I think 2020 was a good year for analyzing my “enough”.  Watching innumerable people lose jobs, and subsequently housing and security, made me more grateful than ever for a roof over my head and knowledge that I had “enough” to weather the COVID storm.  I learned that I had “enough” hobbies to entertain myself for endless days/weeks/months without going completely batshit crazy.  I had “enough” self-discipline to log 13,000 steps every day this year with one exception (I can be forgiven – I had minor surgery that day).  Prior to March I wouldn’t have known that about myself but now I’m pretty proud that I did not slink into a vegetative state on my couch watching the entire “Tiger King” series.

Most importantly, 2020 taught me that I have “enough” family and friends.  My husband and Dash The Wonder Dog have been great company over the past several months, providing support, laughs and a reason to go for a walk every day.  My friends have also been a source of support this year.  I have “enough” good friends to render me one of the luckiest people around.  I read an article from Instyle magazine that posed the idea that 2020 allowed you to narrow down your true friends by using the yardstick of who you would allow to see you topless.  I’m thinking that the average age of an Instyle reader is 19, so maybe that makes sense for them.  I can tell you at age 70, NO ONE wants to see me topless so my friends might be narrowed by those I would spare that visual.  In any event, 2020 brought into focus who I really treasure spending time with and that is a good guidepost going forward.

Had we all known a year ago what we were to face, I suspect we would have thought we couldn’t get through it. But the last 12 months has taught us that we have more grit, resilience, patience, and strength than we gave ourselves credit for.  In truth, we had “enough” to get through it and we are better off now for knowing that.

I hope that 2021 brings all of you “enough” of all the things that matter to you.  While we still have a few months to go before there is some semblance of normalcy, there is hope on the horizon and for now, that is enough.

Posted in Holiday observations • opinion

NEW YEAR’S REVOLUTIONS

By Comments:5 Comments

By Suzanne Sparrow Watson

 

I’ve never kept a New Year’s resolution.  I don’t think I’m alone in that confession.  In fact, according to the Huffington Post, only 8% of people keep them.  I was kind of Ditch_New_Years_Resolutions_Daysurprised to learn it was that high.  Who ARE those people?  Probably the same ones who have their taxes filed by February 1 and the Christmas cards done in August.  So, being the sloth that I am, I went in search of resolutions made by people who, like me, have absolutely no intention of losing weight, exercising more or improving my vocabulary.  Luckily, there are a lot of us out there and I found some rather amusing one’s to share with you this last day of 2018:

 

I want to lose just enough weight so that my stomach doesn’t jiggle when I brush my teeth.

I can’t believe it’s been a whole year since I didn’t become a better person.

I need to start eating more healthy, but first I need to eat all the junk food in the house so it’s not there to tempt me anymore.

I don’t call them New Year’s resolutions.  I prefer the term, “Casual promises to myself that I’m under no legal obligation to fulfill”.

My resolution is to stop kidding myself about lifestyle changes.  Nobody likes a cheap, skinny, sober bitch anyway.

Never again will I take sleeping pills and laxatives on the same night.

I’m going to fake my own death, move to Mexico and live off tacos and tequila.

And from a kindergartner:  I’m going to stop picking my nose.  It’s going to be hard.

I’m only making one resolution this year:  I will indulge when the moods strikes.  Not much of a stretch, I admit, but I’m taking inspiration from a friend.  She posted a photo on Facebook last summer of her husband in a 50’s-style diner, grinning like a 10 year-old as he was served a huge chocolate milkshake, with a sidecar to boot.  Tragically, he died unexpectedly last week.  I thought about that photo – he was so excited to indulge, with nary a thought about cholesterol or calories.  Somehow it made me happy to know that he’d had such a satisfying, guiltless moment.  We should all be so lucky.

So, this year, I wish you and your family much happiness and good health…and many chocolate milkshakes!

Posted in Holiday observations

How Are Those New Year’s Resolutions Going?

By Comments:8 Comments

by Bob Sparrow

Resolutions (1)It’s only half-past January and statistically 46% of you have made New Year resolutions that are now 100% in jeopardy. The rest of you didn’t bother to make any resolutions, so once again our blog will be useless to you. For those still reading, as a public service, ‘From A Bird’s Eye View’ is offering simple, yet ineffective ways to approach your resolutions this year.

First, let’s look at the word resolution – it come from the root word ‘resolve’.

(ri-zolv) a transitive verb (duh, who didn’t know that?) of Middle English/Latin origin, originally meaning to dissolve, melt or loosen.

Inexplicably, over time, this word has come to mean ‘to come to a definite or earnest decision about’.   So essentially the meaning has changed from ‘loose’ to ‘definite’ – with this kind of beginning, it’s no wonder resolutions are so hard to keep. But let’s not let semantics get in the way of our resolve to help you attain or forget those resolutions you so optimistically made just a few weeks ago.

I’ve done a little research and, in order of popularity, here are the Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions nationwide, Top 10followed by what some have said are insightful, others have dubbed useless, suggestions that could help make this year different . . . or not.

  1. Weight loss – by far the most resolved lie of every New Year. This harkens back to the original meanings of ‘definite’ and ‘loosen’, as in you’ll ‘definitely’ be ‘loosening’ your belt. Statistically, middle-aged to older adults gain between 6-8 pounds per year (women a little more than men – sorry ladies), so in order to lose weight, you not only have to lose the extra weight you already carry around, but lose the weight you don’t even have yet! Not fair. Let’s face it, you’re probably not going to lose weight again this year, so just buy bigger clothes so you ‘feel’ thinner.
  1. Improve finances – Unless you have a plan to win the lotto, get a different job, are in line for a big promotion, have a rich relative with a bloody cough, or are delusional about how the government is going to help you, this is not a resolution, it’s a wish. Want to improve your finances? Stop buying those $5 lattes every morning! And just so you know, statistically, right after you win the lotto you’ll be struck by lightning.
  1. Exercise more – This is a trap resolution, if you don’t exercise at all, lifting another glass of wine would be exercising more, so here’s a real tip: Don’t underestimate the power of the walk. Every day, start at your house and walk 10 minutes down the road, then walk back. That’s it! If a bar or a Baskin-Robbins is 10 minutes down the road, walk the other way.
  1. Get a new job – Many who read our blog are either retired or too far down the road in their careers to genuinely consider this resolution, so reword this one to say, ‘Get spouse a job’.
  1. Healthier eating – The list of foods that are healthy and unhealthy for you continues to change on a regular basis; so let me make this simple; assume the foods you’re currently eating are or will be on the ‘healthy’ list and continue to eat  them, and drink . . . more water and less alcohol. Wait a minute, did I just suggest you drink less alcohol? Forget that, but do drink more water.
  1. Manage stress better – this resolution assumes a) you have stress and b) you’ve been managing it poorly. It’s been reported that a certain amount of stress is actually good for you, so this year assume that whatever stress you have, is good for you. There now, doesn’t that feel better already?

7. Stop or reduce smoking –If you are still smoking, you already know that cigarettes contain more than 70 cancer-causing chemical compounds, which along with second-hand smoke, significantly affects yours and other’s respiratory organs and immune systems and that half of all long-term smokers will die of tobacco-related death. So there’s nothing that I’m going to write here that’s going to convince you to stop. However, if your doctor has told you, like mine has, that your body is actually low on the tar and nicotine found in Cuban cigars, then smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.

  1. Improve a relationship – If you’re bad at relationships, which statistically all of us men are and we just don’t know it, start with something simple, like improving the relationship with your dog. Let him know that you’ve peed on the carpet a few time yourself, of course you spent the night in the doghouse, but it was like camping with your dog. Just remember that your dog will forgive you long before your spouse will.

9. Stop procrastinating – I’ve got a lot of stuff on this, but I’ll get it to you later.

  1. Stop/reduce drinking alcohol – I think this one was worded incorrectly, it should read, Stop reducing alcohol drinking. This raises several questions:
    1. What alcohol has the best affect on your health?
    2. If some amount of alcohol is actually good for you, isn’t more better?
    3. Can I actually drink someone handsome or pretty?
    4. How does alcohol actually improve my personality?
    5. Does alcohol really make me invisible sometimes?
    6. Why does alcohol make me sing better?

wine arobicsI think the key here is to remember that whatever the question, wine is probably the answer!

 

However you’re managing your resolutions this year and even if you didn’t make any, the good news is that January is almost over and then no one will be talking about resolutions anymore.

 

Posted in opinion

THE MEMORY JAR

By Comments:10 Comments

By Suzanne Sparrow Watson

Watch out! They're everywhere this month.

Watch out! They’re everywhere this month.

So, here we are at the beginning of another year.  You might expect me to write about my new year’s resolutions or, like last year, what I won’t do this year.  Apparently there are a lot of people who have made resolutions because just last week on the way to work I saw THREE joggers on a street that has been devoid of all human movement for a year. And my husband reported that our gym has been packed all week.  I’m taking his word for it and steering clear.  After all, it’s flu season and who knows what I could pick up in a gym.  Sitting on the sofa eating Doritos seems a whole lot healthier when you really think about it.  So while the rest of the world is working diligently on their new year’s tasks, I’ve decided that I’m done with resolutions. I’ve finally come to accept that I’m not going to keep any of them so I’m saving myself the trouble this year by skipping the whole process.  Sure, I could resolve to drink wine and eat chocolate but that seems like cheating the whole system.  Still, it seemed strange to start a new year without any  thought to how I might mark it.  And then I stumbled on the “Memory Jar”.

Frankly, I don’t remember where I read about the “Memory Jar” because, well, it was last week and I’m at an age where I can’t remember if I ate dinner last night.  The concept of it is to remember all of the important, and not so important, events of a year.  Then, on December 31, when you say “Gee, what in the heck happened to 2015?”, you can go to the jar and remind yourself.  In other words, instead of actually jogging this year, you will be figuring out a way to jog your memory instead.   So for those of you who share my memory challenges, here’s how you can create your own Memory Jar 2015.

First, let’s be clear that this is NOT a device to remember that you got married, had grandchildren or any other major life event.  If you’re beyond remembering those highlights perhaps rather than reading the rest of this blog your time might be better spent investigating “homes”.  We’re just going to assume that you’ll remember the BIG stuff.  The Memory Jar is for all of the little things that happen that tend to be forgotten as the weeks and months go by. Although, frankly, it’s YOUR jar so far be it from me to tell you what to put in it.

A colorful Memory Jar

A colorful Memory Jar

You’ll want to find a fairly big jar – a year can be a long time and you don’t want to run out of room.  An empty container from Costco might be just the ticket.  You can decorate it or not, but you at least should label it “Memory Jar” so that no one uses it for a urine sample before you can fill it up.  Then the fun begins.  Write down the things that make you laugh or bring tears of joy,  basically any moment that you don’t want to forget, then put the slip of paper in your Memory Jar.  You can make note of things people said or did that seem memorable.  For example, grandkids are always coming up with some funny phrase.  Ours once said (after asking my husband’s age) “Gee, you’re really tall“.  Of course he meant “old”.  We still laugh about it and now I wish I could remember how old he was when he said it.  If I’d had a memory jar I’d have my answer.  A memory jar is also a great place to put theater or movie tickets, perhaps with a notation of where you went to dinner that night or who you were with.   Or maybe the cork from a bottle of wine you shared with good friends.  You can put their names, the place and the date on the cork and just slip it in the jar.  The “jar” is also a good place for a photo or newspaper clipping that you want to remember.  You get the idea – put anything in there that brings you joy in the moment.

Then next December 31 open up your jar, either alone or with family and friends, and read or view each piece of paper.  Hopefully it will provide some good memories, laughs and maybe a tear.  In any event, you won’t have to wonder where the year went – you’ll know!

As far as New Year’s traditions go, I’m thinking that a Memory Jar sounds a whole lot better than jogging.