“I give myself permission to be all that I can be,
and I deserve the very best in life.”
— Louise Hay —

The New Year has always been an iffy time for me—kind of happy, kind of sad. For years I was overweight, so January was the month to give myself extra beatings and set unrealistic goals that I could never achieve. Every year, I would get out a new calendar, write my current weight down on the 1st of January and then set weight goals for every Friday. The first week I would set the goal at five pounds down because, you know, that “water” weight comes off quickly. Then, each week would count down two pounds at a time. I’m not sure if I ever made it beyond week two—maybe week one. It was a proven-to-fail method that I did over and over again. In hindsight, I just have to wonder why.

It’s only January, and I’m already saying enough is enough.
But when is enough actually enough?
I have to wonder because I feel as though daily life has
become a navigational puzzle of delineating between having enough but not feeling like it’s enough, having enough and wanting more, or having too much but continuing to be a vacuous glutton for more.

Isn’t glutton a disgusting word? It even sounds nasty, as it should. Gluttony is one of the Seven Deadly Sins and is defined as the overindulgence and overconsumption of anything to the point of excess. The word is derived from the Latin gluttire, which means “to gulp down” or “to swallow.”

“Blessed is the season which engages the
whole world in a conspiracy of love”
— Hamilton Wright Mabie ——

When’s the last time you’ve been in a restaurant, and at the table of four next to you, all four people are on their phones? Today? Yesterday?

It can be a table of adults or parents with children (any age), whatever the mix, the phones are front and center. It’s a sad time we live in, when whatever fodder is on the phone is more meaningful than the friends, family and loved ones sitting at a table with you sharing a meal.

Children are to be seen and not heard.
I can’t tell you how many times I heard that from my father when I was growing up.
I really never bought into it, but you can bet I immediately
shrank into the woodwork when he said it.
I knew, in no uncertain terms, that he meant to be quiet and behave,
and that meant now!
I also knew that if I didn’t, I would be the one on the losing end.

I had the pleasure of going to church with my friends in Florence, S.C. It was at a beautiful Episcopal church built in 1864 with a conservative, formal service laced with all the pomp and circumstance. However, the scenery across the isle from me was far from pretty.

“If you change the way
you look at things,
the things you look at change.”
— Dr. Wayne Dyer —

I know we are supposed to wait until January to refresh and start anew, but why not go ahead and make it happen now? This way we can rid ourselves of any notion of Bah Humbug and decide to soak in the pure magic of the next wonderful weeks. Impossible, you think, with all the harried hustle and bustle, to-do lists, and skewed news on every channel? Yes, my friend, it is very possible but 100 percent up to you.