By Dosi Cotroneo
Like many of us, the beginning of a new year got me thinking. Thinking about 2012 and all of the things I said I was going to accomplish but didn’t; thinking about 2012 and a few things that I accomplished that I hadn’t even planned on; thinking about 2013 and all of the things I want to accomplish; and finally, thinking about 2013 and what if I don’t accomplish any of the things I set out to? Oh dear. It sounds as though I’m spiraling into one of my “why bother even getting started if you’re not going to finish anyway” routines. Most negative and I have vowed to myself that 2013 will be a year lived “sans (without) negative thinking”.
On that note, I also decided to spare family and friends the burden of listening to yet another one of my long lists of New Year’s resolutions. Yes this month, I will not publicly announce any grandiose plans of writing that Oscar-nominated screenplay, the one-woman show, or that best-selling novel. I will not utter a word about big plans to go to the gym four times a week, how I plan to finally divorce Nutella, start eating healthy, and how I hope to give blood, volunteer, and learn a new language, like Arabic or Greek. I think I finally got tired of giving lip service to plans that may very well not materialize, only to once again feel like a failure and foolish by the end of 2013.
A wise man once said, “every second holds the opportunity for a new beginning.” Then why have I been waiting for every January to start fresh? Is it procrastination, a lack of self-discipline, a lack of motivation, a fear of failure, or even worse, a fear of success that is holding me back? Earlier this month, my father turned 85 years old. He claims he has never procrastinated a day in his life. Now I really feel like a loser. As the offspring of Italian immigrant parents, how on earth did I become a scattered, master procrastinator, who possesses little to no time management skills, and don’t even think of getting me started on the spending habits.
I once read that comparison is the thief of joy, and I couldn’t agree more. That is, unless it involves my sisters. I can safely say that they too, are scattered, master procrastinators, who possess little to no time management skills and have horrible spending habits. Truth be told, I couldn’t be happier with them. You can’t imagine the horror I would feel if they were successful, wealthy, frugal, driven, motivational speaker-types. How could I possibly compare? My self-esteem would plummet, my parents would always be bragging about their accomplishments, and I would probably have to sign up for one of their sold-out motivational-speaker performances. How dreadful! How could I ever fill their size 11 shoes, when I am a petite, girlish figure type size 7?
I just know I didn’t start off writing this column to discuss my siblings, my parents, and my long list of “never going to happen New Year’s resolutions” or the size of my feet and my girlish figure. I only wish I could remember what the purpose of this column really was. What was the theme, the thrust, the purpose? Once again, dear readers, I have strayed from the subject at hand, and I can only hope that throughout these 500 and some odd words, well, probably closer to 600 now, you will find some helpful advice, a moral, a lesson, maybe even a smile. And on that note, I bid you farewell, but not without saying “Buon Anno”, “Happy New Year” and may all of your 2013 wishes come true.