That's Life: Resolving to Be GratefulBy Phyllis McGuire
iBerkshires Columnist
05:13PM / Monday, January 05, 2009
Now that the new year has begun, I find myself reflecting on what I have achieved and what I failed to do in the last 12 months.
I think of the future as a clean slate on which to record that I did indeed renew my efforts to always behave in a manner that is pleasing to God.
Some of the more common New Year's resolutions people make are to stop smoking and drinking liquor, to lose weight, and to spend more time with family.
I would be cheating if I vowed to stop smoking, as more than 40 years have passed since I last put a cigarette in my mouth. I admit to being a nicotine addict before I married, but my bridegroom, Bill, did not like to see a bride with a cigarette dangling from her mouth, so I went without a cigarette on our wedding day. The next morning after we enjoyed our first breakfast together as man and wife, I rummaged through my suitcase.
 "What are you looking for?" Bill asked.
"A pack of cigarettes," I replied.
"You got through yesterday without a cigarette," Bill said with a smile. "Why don't you try to make it two days?"
And so it went day after day, Bill encouraging me to abstain from smoking, until I finally realized I really did not need to smoke while I typed a letter at work, drank a cup of tea, or socialized. I will forever be thankful to my Bill for helping me break that unhealthy habit.
Since it is not my habit to stuff myself with food and I only weigh 84 pounds, there would be no point in my resolving to shed even an ounce. As it is, when I sit in the passenger's seat of my son's car, an electronic chip turns off the airbag signal because inflated air bags are harmful to children. If I get any thinner, heaven forbid, my son might be required by law to strap me into a child's car seat.
As for drinking alcoholic beverages, I discovered years ago that that imbibing  liquor had an adverse effect on my equilibrium. At a luncheon my co-workers held in my honor on my 21st birthday, one of the hosts ordered a second round of cocktails. Not wanting to appear to be a party spoiler, I sipped the second Pink Lady a waiter set before me. When the group made ready to leave the restaurant and I rose from my chair, I felt as if I were falling from a galloping horse. I grasped the table, steadying myself, and then walked to the office, arm in arm with a coworker.
A few minutes after I typed a few memos and submitted them to my superior, Bernice Coe, for her signature, she approached me. "Phyllis, are you OK? "
"I'm fine," I replied.
"Well, you can go home now. Happy Birthday!"
"Thanks," I said. "First, I'll mail those memos I gave you."
"No, you can take care of that tomorrow."
 The next day, I found the memos on my desk, corrections noted on them. It was the first time that had happened in the year I had been working for Miss Coe, I knew then that imbibing liquor had not only caused my head to spin, but also caused my brain to forget exactly where each key on the typewriter was located. I never again drank liquor, and I have not missed it.
"You are a cheap dinner date," Bill had teased when he was courting me.
As for another common resolution, I would love to spend more time with my family, but my two children, their spouses and their children live on Long Island. I, therefore, cannot visit them as often as I desire. And with their busy lives, my children certainly cannot drop everything and pop in on me whenever I especially miss them.
I am in good mental health, yet I wish I were two people, one who would live near my family, and one who would stay here in Williamstown. But, as the saying goes, "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride."
Well, I do not own a horse so I will just have to continue riding in a car to travel back and forth to Long Island to be with my family whenever possible.
A friend once asked if I ever thought of living with my children. "Oh my, no. I would not do that to them or to me," I said.
As much as I love my children, I do not want to leave the beautiful Berkshires, where I have built a life, where I am inspired to write, where I eat when and what I like, and where I can be independent — driving here and there whenever I want, rather than be a burden to my children, relying on them to transport me when it is convenient for them.
As for my New Year's resolution, I believe God would be pleased if I accepted that it is His will that I be but one person with but one life to lead, and was grateful for the blessings He has bestowed one me: a loving family, loyal friends and a fulfilling life living on my own here in the Berkshires. |
