Beth's Blog

Truth be told, I am happy to see 2012 end – and “12” was always my favorite number!

Don’t get me wrong; 2012 (must have) had (some) great moments and we do need to dig-deep and recall them.  Then celebrate them again in our minds, file them, move on, do better, or do over.

The too many and too cruel realities of 2012 are sadly easier to recall. Mother Nature, herself, wreaked havoc around the globe from floods in Australia, China, and Nepal, the earthquake in the Philippines, Superstorm Sandy in the U.S.  

Man’s inhumanity to man broke too many stories around the world including genocide, murder, bombings, and the senseless shootings of 20 students in Mubi, Nigeria as well as 20 children in Newtown, Connecticut, United States – with just 9 days to go until Christmas.  Still too tragic to wrap our heads and hearts around.

BUT, since the Mayan prediction about the end of the world did not occur on December 21, 2012, we get another chance to do a better job, to live more peacefully, to encourage and support one another.   We came together as a world community for 2 magnificent weeks in August for the 30^thOlympiad (there ‘ya go, a good 2012 memory!).  Can’t we transfer the same spirit beyond the fields of athletic competition?  Sure we can!

SO, as we close the book on one year, we open a new one; one yet to be written, to be lived.  How we do that is up to each of us; that alone is something to celebrate!  (“Choices”: 12/12/12) 

As a young student athlete, we had an expression: “Do-Over” when we didn’t like the outcome and needed to do it again to produce a better one!  Oh, that it could be that easy!

 

I think of that expression every year at this time as we face the challenge and the opportunity to “do-over” each day of a new year.  We typically approach is as resolutions.  Does that mean to “re-solve”, as in solve it again?  But if we already “solved” it………..

Resolutions often include exercising more, losing weight and relaxing on the weekend.  In this context, a resolution is a promise you make to yourself.   That’s fine, but by definition it is about doing for oneself.

Well, as I head toward a big birthday, I’ve made a big decision.  My resolution is about changing things that will have a direct influence on the lives of others – not just me!  Pretty grown up, don’t you think?

Do-overs are great but they are never guaranteed.  I’ve decided to do it right this year (or at least exhaust myself trying). I have been very inspired by the poem that follows (BTW: the same author in my previous Blog, “Mad Dash to the Finish Line” (12/21/12)  

So, IS it just me, or are you, too, feeling inspired, moved to action? 

Let’s go girls: if we don’t do it, who will?

Let’s resolve to make the number “13” a lucky one, a blessed one, a promising one, a fulfilling one.