What should I write about as we enter 2023? That’s what I asked my sister-in-law who lives in a senior living complex not far from where a kid drew a swastika on a huge Hanukkah menorah display. “There are 300 of us living here and we all respect each other’s holidays and faith. We can show these young folks how to live together in peace, and they definitely need something positive in their lives these days,” she said.
It sounded like a call for world peace and I was at a loss. This past year feels like one disaster after another: Russia in Ukraine, historic freezing weather, suicides and mass shootings. Our respect for each other seems diminished to the point of no return. I struggled to come up with anything positive to say that would help humanity in 2023, so I looked online to see if there were inspiring New Year’s words by someone else. I wasn’t super motivated by these words of Ralph Waldo Emerson: “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
My usual New Year’s resolution came to mind, and I’ve decided to lose 10 pounds and look 10 years younger — again. But I don’t think that decision is going to inspire anyone since I’ve given up after a couple of weeks every year. Yes, I’ll try again in 2023 since part of me adheres to the words of C.S. Lewis, “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”
Surely I can be motivated by Lewis and the words of Cavett Robert, “Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed.” But it’s a good thing I have a sense of humor about this so I can come up with this great 2023 joke, “This New Year’s, I’m going to make a resolution I can keep: no dieting all year long.”
Joking aside, you know I will try again. And when the urge for pizza for breakfast is too strong to ignore, I will dutifully head to the gym and promise myself that I will burn off more calories than I took in. Again.
It’s time to get realistic, just as Maya Angelou was when she said: “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” Mindset … now that’s the change that is needed. Relapses don’t mean giving up. Mistakes don’t mean mindless miles on a stationary bike. Smile and be thankful for new starts. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about breakfast pizza or something more dreamy, like world peace. I would love to click my heels in red shoes like Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” and make the world suddenly less divisive and hate-filled in 2023. But the reality is that for most of us, we make that happen on a small scale: one friend, one kindness, one stranger at a time.
The attitude of Judy Garland, who played Dorothy, is a change-maker for all of us. She said, “Well, we have a whole new year ahead of us. And wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all be a little more gentle with each other, a little more loving, and have a little more empathy, and maybe, next year at this time we’d like each other a little more.”
So let’s be kinder and gentler to ourselves and to others. Make that New Year’s resolution knowing that it won’t be perfect but we’ll persevere. That 2023 attitude might be the change we’re all looking for, including my sister-in-law. Think Happy … New Year!
Contact Deborah Levine, an author, trainer/coach and editor of the American Diversity Report, at deborah@diversityreport.com.