23 and Me

Okay, so let’s get this thing started, shall we?

It’s January 1st and that means it’s time for my New Year’s resolutions.

I know, I know, I do this every single year, vowing to change nearly every single aspect of my life, only to veer off course and revert to all my old, unhealthy patterns before Presidents Day.

I know and I still don’t care. I am hopelessly in love with the idea of starting over, rewinding the clock, clearing the decks, and all those other born-again clichés.

I’ve gone through my Christmas malaise and now I’m ready to be free ‘23.

There’s nothing new on the list of resolutions. This is more of a time to reconnect with my goals and remind myself that time is fleeting.

I want to treat my pursuit of happiness like a math problem; add the good stuff, subtract the self-sabotage and come up with a better version of yours truly.

Way back in August, I covered an electric vehicle auto race in Red Hook. These cars are a lot like their gas-powered Indy 500 cousins, except they run cleaner and a hell of a lot quieter.

And, unlike internal combustion engines, the EVs don’t make pitstops to refuel. All the drivers charge up their cars and each one decides how to use their allotted electricity.

Tally Ho, Here We Go

It took four months for me to get a lesson out of that experience, but I see now that we, too, have a finite amount of energy and it’s up to us to choose how we’re going to spend it.

You can waste time and energy roiling over the past and worrying about the future or you can make the most out of right now.

I recently came across a self-help meme on Instagram—I’m constantly reposting these things--about being a prisoner of the past.

I did a mental eyeroll upon first reading those words as it sounded a bit melodramatic.

But then I did an honest assessment of my thought patterns, and I was surprised—and somewhat upset—at the amount of time I spend looking over my shoulder, so a large part of 2023 will be devoted to being mindful.

I also screw around on the internet too damn much. Just today--the first day of the New Year--I sat down to write this post, but first I had to check out YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, a couple of news sites and, then, oh, yeah, I finally did some writing.

That behavior is going to stop. The holidays are over and with them are any excuses to avoid work.

I’ve been on a Frank Sinatra kick lately and I decided that “Nothing But the Best” is going to be my personal anthem this year.

The song was written by Johnny Rotella and recorded for the 1962 album Sinatra and Swingin’ Brass, but it was omitted from the disc and later released in an expanded CD version.

I’m just so glad I heard the song because it has a great attitude that I want to adopt.

“I like a new Lincoln with all of its class,” the song goes, “I like a martini, and bird under glass. I'm gonna start living, you wait and see. Nothing but the best is good enough for me.”

I don’t know about the Lincoln and the martini, but I can certainly extend the concept of “best” to the best thoughts and best actions that’ll make 2023 my best year ever.

Happy New Year.