Column by Dr. Ann Hollingsworth
As we start a new calendar year, we may not make resolutions to soon break, but we probably do think about change as the calendar turns over. Henry Ford, the auto maker, had many words of wisdom that are good guidance moving into a new year to make it a possibly better year from the last – a sense of growing forward.
Probably my favorite is “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” This is not to say make changes just for the sake of change.
It is an encouragement to look at what our lives are like and if we have an area that we are not satisfied with, change is indicated in that area or we will probably continue to be dissatisfied.
Often resolutions that are made fall short because they are ambitious or big. Henry Ford said, “ Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.” 50 pounds can seem like a lot of weight to use, but 1-2 pounds a week is much more achievable and all of those losses will add up to the 50 pound loss.
One that I have found especially pertinent is “Chop your own wood and it will warm you twice.” The generations who lived through the Great Depression built capacity for survival from being self-sufficient. Military service veterans exhibit this because of their self-sufficiency training. Reliance on others to do what you could do yourself will often come to some dissatisfaction in what they do and some weakened capacity to care for self.
In line with that, “Vision without execution is just hallucination.” and “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t–you’re right.” So a matter of good living in 2022 is really a matter of thinking and doing. My wish is that we all will dare to have visions, have the confidence to think we can, and the willingness to do.
