Personal essays
On deciding to make a fresh start every day.
Things change
Yesterday the temperature dropped from 59 degrees to 23 degrees. It was negative 7 with the wind chill from the high winds that accompanied the drop.
Using numbers everyone but americans understand, that’s 15 to -5 with a wind chill of -21.7.
Some changes are forced on us by things outside of our control. Believe me, if I were in charge of the weather, we’d be in the 55 - 75 degree range (12.8 - 24) most of the year.
When things change - for the better, for the worse, or just change - we can choose to view it as a fresh start.
Last year I turned 65 and qualified for Medicare. Along with my particular plan came a free membership in a fancy gym that was way too expensive for me to join otherwise.
Fresh start.
I started going five or six times a week. I lifted weights, I took yoga classes, and best of all, I finished many workouts lying back in the hydro-massage chairs.
If I wasn’t afraid of being kicked out of the gym, I would have flipped over when I was done with my back and done my front too.
I ended this year lighter and stronger than I’ve been in years.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m neither light nor strong. But I’ve moved in the right direction.
It’s not just the new start, it’s that more than a year later I’m still going to the gym five or six times a week.
I would be lighter and perhaps stronger if I hadn’t eaten my way through my seven weeks in Europe this fall - but who are we kidding.
Medicare provided a fresh start and I maintained the habit for more than a year.
Fresh starts
Katie Milkman has studied this phenomenon of fresh starts. She’s looked at why we choose to make resolutions at the beginning of the year.
In a paper she co-authored, The Fresh Start Effect: Temporal Landmarks Motivate Aspirational Behavior they say that these temporal landmarks “open new accounting periods.”
You can put your past “failures” in the past and start with a fresh slate. Also, an occasion such as a job change, a birth, a death, or a significant birthday can focus you on the big picture where you can commit to bigger changes.
They list events that include, “beginning of a new week, month, year, and school semester, as well as immediately following a public holiday, a school break, or a birthday.”
Beginning of a new week.
I like that.
Each week we get to look back at the previous week and resolve to do better next week.
We don’t have to wait for a new year.
Kim used to have one of those calendars that showed a week at a time. When she turned the page to see what the new week had in store for her, it was a fresh start.
Check the pantry
Last week, before it got warm and rainy here, it was so, so cold.
Maggie requested I make a cinnamon beef soup so I went to the store to pick up ingredients. I decided to make a chicken ramen as well.
When I got home I realized I should have checked my cupboard before shopping. I now have three bags of star anise and two jars of beef “Better than Bouillon”.
I looked at the old jar of the beef base and saw that it expired in 2020. I’m not very strict about expiration dates but this one seemed to be long enough ago that I pitched the old jar and used the new one.
Fresh start.
I used up one of the old bags of star anise and soon the kitchen was filled with amazing smells.
Next time I need to check what I have before heading to the store.
Start again
The days are getting longer. They’re still too short, but every day is longer than the day before.
Now that my gym routine is settled, I need to vary it.
My friend James described a workout routine he is trying and so I’ve modified mine to match.
I don’t think his is better or worse than mine - but different means that I’m paying more attention and that makes it better. In a few months I’ll shake it up again.
I didn’t wait til a new year, new month, or new week to make the change. I talked to him on FaceTime about it and went to the gym the next day and tried it.
I need to add cardio and maybe spend some time in the steam room or sauna.
There’s a new year coming up but every day is an opportunity to make a change.
I think I’ll make a fresh start today.
Essay from Dim Sum Thinking Newsletter 301. Read the rest of the Newsletter or subscribe