column about them in which I included both my own New Year’s resolutions
and some wishes for others, the world, and myself. This year, rather
than repeat another set of resolutions and wishes, I’m going to do a
baseball scorecard, based on the results from last year. And, like last
year, there will be no particular order, though unlike last year,
I will have a score at the end.
I had hoped for a
conciliation and dialogue between our political parties and each other
on our political differences. Score: Strikeout. Nothing more need
be said on this one.
· I expressed the desire that my boys
deserved more respect from me and be heard and listened to more
carefully. Score: Double.
· My wish was that there be less
acrimony between divorcing couples, more concern for children’s welfare
in so-called Family Courts (which I had dubbed and still dub
“Anti Family Courts”) has sadly not changed in the least. Score:
Strikeout.
· I strove to appreciate my wife and be more
patient and concerned for her welfare given the amount of adjustments
she had to make in joining and blending with our family. Score: Triple
(yeah!).
· We all depend on e-mail far more than we
should. I do and that was a declaration last year that I’d try harder
to use the phone both with my wife and with others. During the
past year, I’ve added Twitter to my communication tool-chest, so I’d
have to say I’ve allowed the problem to worsen. Score: Strikeout.
·
For the first time in my life, after a bad ski accident on Memorial
Day of 2008, I gained 15 pounds and vowed, last year, to lose that added
poundage. Instead, I gained another 15. Score: Strikeout.
·
My son has had the goal of achieving a “B” average at school to earn
the privilege of getting his driver’s license, which had been a
long-time family rule. He struggled and worked hard at reaching that
goal but did not achieve it. However, we as a family have found a way
to replace that goal with other requirements, so a sort of reasonable
compromise has been reached. Score: Single.
· My wife had
a rough work year and I had wished for an improved year for her work
life and her hard work paid off this year. Score: Double.
·
Patience. A word I’ve never understood. Slowing down. Something
else I’ve never understood. My work life ramped up so I guess didn’t
make much progress in this area, but I didn’t really fail
either. Score: Walk.
· For nearly a decade, I was in a
men’s group. One of the things we talked about was how often we let our
“little boy” control our actions. What that meant was letting our
emotions, like those of the little boy in us, control our mature side
when we really knew better and I had resolved to better control
my “little boy.” I would say I made progress in this regard in many
ways, mostly in my marriage but, ironically, I also realized that my
need to be part of my men’s group was no more and I quit it last
year. Maybe I had graduated? Maybe I had learned what I needed to
learn? Score: Stolen Base.
· My last resolution was to
argue less and make love more (with my wife). I’m not saying which I
succeeded with; all I will admit to is that I did succeed with one more
than the other. Score: Double.
After completing this list, I
can’t really say a final score is merited. I clearly didn’t strikeout
completely nor was there a home run in the game. I suppose it was like
most things in life and like most games–you win some, you lose
some. But, as far as this man is concerned, staying in the game is the
measure of the person.
For next season, my goals rather than
resolutions can be summarized simply in a single paragraph. I want to
continue on the path I’m on. I want to be the man I declare I am on
my business card, in the order I chose to describe myself on
that card: dad, first and foremost. Second, writer and, third, radio
show host, the job/career that didn’t even exist when I compiled my
resolutions and wishes for last year. And, isn’t that what makes the
game of life so interesting? We wake up one day playing first base and
end up in left field the next day.
The challenge is to be
open to changing positions, to rolling with the punches, to adapting to
new opportunities, and to having a little fun along the way. On these
last clichés, I bid you all a great new year.
Please listen to
“The Bruce Sallan Show – A Dad’s Point-of-View” Thursdays at 11:00 a.m. -
12:00 p.m., PST on KZSB AM1290 in Santa Barbara, on Sundays at 7:00
p.m. – 8:00 p.m. on NewsTalk 1420 WHK in Cleveland, Ohio, or on the
Internet via a live stream. For that link and all information about the
show and Bruce, visit his web-site: http://www.brucesallan.com. Bruce created and launched a website for those who would like Tech help, called BoomerTechTalk (http://www.BoomerTechTalk.com). Bruce’s
column, “A Dad’s Point-of-View,” is available in over 100 newspapers
and web-sites worldwide. Find Bruce on Facebook by joining his “A Dad’s
Point-of-View” page: http://www.facebook.com/aDadsPointOfView. You can also follow Bruce at Twitter: http://twitter.com/BruceSallan.
