Resolution Failure Revealed

Dear Wesley:

Maybe I told Benjamin a wrong thing. I’m beginning to form an attachment to the ear staples. My appetite has lessoned considerably, the headache is gone and I exaggerated about the smoking thing. Stay tuned. An open mind has been achieved.

I mention this to you particularly because of all my grandchildren, your mind is the most uncluttered; uncluttered by prejudice and secret agendas. In fact, I have never met anyone with such a pure inner life. I wish I could peer inside just to see how it is done. Alas, no one can be inside the mind of another. As such this disquisition may be completely wrong. Forget that. Humor me. Try it on for a while to see if there is any truth to what is suggested.

We don’t fully appreciate the “why” of our actions. To some that might be recognition of motive; to others it might mean a declaration of intent; a different group might express it as a response to anxiety. Lets just say that each of us does things for good and sufficient reasons yet don’t particularly need to express or even know the reasons.

That, I think, is the explanation for New Year’s Resolution failure. We’re not in touch with what possessed us to make that resolution or have an inkling of the practical implication of its fulfillment. If we did know, we probably wouldn’t make much of it at all. We would just do it and not wait for the New Year.

When you hear something like, “I plan to start my diet on Monday”, that poor soul is in for a doomed diet.

So now you know why you’re being burdened with this ponderous inquiry. I want to know why. Why did I get fat in the first place? Assuming there was good reason for it, why make a change? Does my life hold such import that prolonging it satisfies some greater good? Who benefits one way or the other? Why am I blathering on so insistently? Is any of this worth the aggravation?

You tell me.

On the iPod today was Jerry Lee Lewis The Sun Recordings -- all sorts of wonderful country tunes and even some Tin Pan Alley. What a joy.

Tomorrow, look for a post on the value of 36-inch pants.

Much Love,

Poppy