We're continuing our wish list for the New Year...
Think better This wish for the New Year follows naturally from assessing eating and sleeping habits, then changing them. I have found many "brain-dead" people (and not just junior high students) who are so sluggish mentally because of poor eating and sleeping habits.
In other words, poor physical health will invariably lead to poor mental health. (That is a much, much bigger [and sensitive] topic than I have room for a in few lines in this column.)
My advice for your New Year's Wish List is to become a critical thinker. And it's "critical," as in analytical, forensic, and objective—not as in nitpicking and cranky. The two can be confused for each other, but they are polar opposites.
Thinking better means to examine all news stories, information, and opinions of celebrities, politicians, and even religious leaders and friends. It should lead to healthy dialogue and exchange of ideas, even if we don't necessarily agree. It's hard to find common ground these days at any level, over any matter, in any medium.
I have found that things would be better if we could just think things through.
Speak better This wish is all about proper communication, which includes "writing better," too. As an aside, my writing is still a work in progress, and I am constantly trying to improve my written communication skills.
But "speaking better" is my focus here. This involves elocution skills, namely, articulation, pronunciation and enunciation. It means having a good vocabulary and colourful words (versus "colourful language"). I'm thinking of deleting words such as "like," "huh," "wha," (not to be confused with "what") and "you know," unless absolutely necessary.
I suppose there's also a place for coded language (aka slang) among peers, but in any conventional setting, it is best to speak in such a way that your hearers understand you.
I use a lot of idioms and colloquialisms (that's part of the "colourful words"), only to discover my listeners didn't get them. That usually means I spend probably a third more of my time explaining what I meant in the first place, which is a serious (but necessary) waste of time. It's better to be clear in the first place.
Spend better This may strike you as an oddball wish for the New Year, but actually it's not. This is a wish that is so essential for all of us. While we may vary in how much money we have, at least we all have some.
Do you ever use coupons? Do you usually wait for sales before you purchase things? What about shopping at thrift stores, or is that beneath you? Eat out a lot? Buy in bulk? Prepare food at home in advance of the weeks to come? Is fresh versus frozen an option for you?
My folks were not wealthy by any stretch, but they had exceptionally good money habits. My wife is likewise a very good money manager. She learned that from her mother.
In terms of our family, she had to be: We have always lived on one salary, with nine kids, for years. In fact, at one point, I spent ten years living a without a regular income (a Christian worker, with a "guaranteed" monthly income of only $400-$600). The rest came in the mail...usually. We got by, by God's grace, and lived to write about it.
My desperate concern is for our institutions (schools, churches, and mostly governments) to be far more responsible with how they work with budgets and taxes. Money management with either will make us or break us as a nation—and mismanagement is breaking us these days.
Much of good money mismanagement starts in the home. Children who observe the careful spending habits of their parents grow up to be adults who know how to handle their money wisely.
So there you have it: eating, sleeping, thinking, speaking, and spending better are five key New Year's Resolutions that we should all aim for.
Happy (and better) New Year!
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