In order to make a New Year’s Resolution, one has to be resolute. Firm, determined, unwavering. Otherwise, a New Year’s Resolution is just a faux promise, with no intention on the part of the maker to carry it out. If that feels harsh or judgmental, welcome to the crowd. I know just how you feel.
I tried to imagine the 5 New Year’s Resolutions that President Obama might make today. The list I created, it turns out, has more to do with what I want him to resolve, but maybe…just maybe…there is an overlap.
1. Stay focused on issues you believe in. There are all kinds of people out there trying to convert you to their beliefs, couching them in promises, threats, and bribes. You were elected to carry out promises made from your own beliefs. Stick to them.
2. Keep playing basketball. One of the endearing qualities that voters saw in you was the energy and youthful glee that you exhibited when doing something you really enjoyed. No need to duplicate the bowling episode…that didn’t have anything to do with you. And if golf is something that gives you pleasure and lowers your blood pressure, play golf. I don’t care what your critics say about it; I know that you are working hard, putting in full days and nights on the job, and fretting a lot over your responsibilities. Keep the basketball in your repertoire of required activities. You’ll live longer.
3. Don’t stop thinking. There is a huge, unbelievably strong anti-intellectual element to our population today. They would have you engage in regular knee-jerk reactions to events and ideas. They are nostalgic about the eight years before your election. Your mind is crisp, clear, informed, and it makes you articulate. I love that about you. Take all the time you need to study big issues, and when you have made decisions, spell them out in a way that shows that you understand the concepts and have developed some passion around them.
4. Keep having dinner with your family. They keep you focused on the real things about life in America. And they need you just as much as you need them.
5. Don’t forget to laugh. Laugh at Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh. Laugh at the birthers and the tea baggers. They are laughable. Laugh at those who think the decisions you have to make are simple and don’t require time and advice from experts. Laugh at a good movie every now and then. And laugh when Bo gets antsy.
You may notice that I made this list without mentioning health care, the economy, Guantanamo, the War in Afghanistan, or the sad state of education in our country. I don’t know enough about those things to be able to advise the President on the correct answers. He, however, has the ability to speak to each of them intelligently. If he keeps my 5 suggestions, and if he is resolute about approaching them daily, I believe the year 2010 will turn out to be just fine for Barack Obama…and for the rest of us in the USA.
Photo Credit: http://www.gettyimages.com/Editorial/Frontdoor/SportsIllustrated
Dictionary source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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