New Year's Resolutions

It’s New Year’s resolution time once again and the web is full of great ideas on how to slim down, save money or party like a Kardashian. The first two sound ok, but I still don’t get the fixation with the dysfunctional Kardashian clan…but that’s another topic all in itself. No matter which great idea you choose, probably close to 100% of these ill-chosen resolutions will fail. But how can this be so when we see so many thin, rich people partying like its 1999? It will work, but I think the failure rate is tied more to the timing of the resolution than the resolution itself.

Here I go again sharing good advice I gleaned from my very first broker; you know, the one I said I got no good advice from. But what he told me on this matter has stuck with me for years. We were sitting around the office during that lull between Christmas and the New Year trying to act like we were conducting some type of real estate business. I was still trying to get used to the idea of sitting around talking about work actually being work, but he had been at it for years so he genuinely appeared busy. This is when I asked him if he had chosen a resolution for the coming year. “Nope” was all he said as he grabbed the phone to make a call.

Well he never said anything else on the subject so later in the day, while we were eating lunch, I asked him again. Food always made him friendly, so I knew it was a good time to follow up. He said that he never made any type of commitment to a new idea as long as there was a celebration (he probably meant alcohol) going on. He said a new year’s resolution was like hugging a stranger in a bar and telling them you loved them. He said his new year would begin on February one as would his resolution. Seems kind of simple when you think about it; when you think about what it really means. How many times have you made a good decision when you were making one just because everybody else was? Lemmings leap simply because the others do, and the last time I checked they all die! Happy early New Year, it’s a little more than a month away!

whoo-whoo

It never ceases to amaze me how often I think about someone that I haven’t seen in ages and the next thing I know they are standing behind me in the checkout line at the grocery store. It’s almost like you knew you were going to see them soon and your brain was doing the prep work. Going over the notes before the big test? I don’t know if this is some kind of sixth sense, but I do try to pay attention to these things. They might just be important.

It’s not hard to imagine that my wife and I would share a common wave length, we’ve been together over half of our lives. But almost every day (if I call her) she says “I was just thinking about calling you”. It happens so often I don’t give it a second thought. But what about when this “whoo-whoo” thing happens with old friends? What about extended family…or ideas; how much time do you spend on those thoughts? I have random “good ideas” all the time that I usually just let slip away or write off as daydreaming.

My wife and I spend a lot of time “double daydreaming”. We dream out loud of things to add to our “some-day list”. Not things like winning the lottery or going to the moon, but more practical ideas like building a new house in the country or moving to the beach. I think it is really the only way that you will truly know what your partner is thinking, and it does help some of these dreams actually happen. The ideas have changed over the years as many of our dreams have been realized, but the latest one seems like the best ever; owning a bed and breakfast.

Really it would be more like a bed and supper, but that’s just a technicality. It would probably end up being more work than either of us would really want, but it does sound like fun meeting and cooking for a few new people every night. Of course we would locate in some semi-exotic location and the house would practically take care of itself, but we are dreaming, right? If we ever stop and declare just how much work it would really be the dream would be over. No need in killing our dream of the last few years over details!

But mixed in with every dream is the reality of day to day life. Christmas is always a busy time; a time when you need to think of others more than yourself. We don’t need anything, and all we really wanted this year was some time off together; we are getting that right now. But I must admit that I wonder about the meaning of what happened to me when I checked my email Christmas morning. We were in a bit of a rush to get out and be with family, but I was ready before the girls and decided to turn on the computer. I replied to a few emails and deleted them but I couldn’t make myself delete the single message in my spam box; three months of free advertising on Bedandbreakfast.com! Whoo-whoo!