By JACK GODBEY

Community columnist

One more year has come and gone and a new year has arrived. Besides having to remember to write 2020 on my checks, I am excited about the New Year. I will no doubt continue to write 2019 on everything at least until the start of spring.

Most people use the beginning of a new year to make resolutions and try to do things to be better people. I stopped making resolutions many years ago because the quest to be a better person is attempted all throughout the year and not just when it is fashionable to do so. 

Of course, there are those businesses out there that benefit greatly from the resolution thing. I would think that gyms and health food stores receive quite a bit of a bump in business during this time as everyone fools themselves into thinking that they are going to finally get into shape. Somewhere around the beginning of spring, I would usually find better things to do and leave my gym membership behind faster than an Olympic runner going for the gold. 

I do think it’s a good thing to take the time to inventory our lives and try to be the best that we can be. One of the saddest things in my opinion is for people to be less than they desire to be but never do anything to make themselves better. They never take the action necessary or do what it takes to improve. They are satisfied being less than great. I call this the generic chocolate syndrome.  

The manufacturer of this horrible chocolate knows their product is not as good as Hershey’s and they never strive to be. These people are satisfied making inferior chocolate that is never going to be as good as those around it or even better than it was the year before and they appear to be fine with that fact. I would not want to be in charge of motivation at these places as people come to work each day knowing full well that their efforts go into making something that is low quality. 

Often times, we may find ourselves in a similar situation. What is important to remember is that we all don’t have to be a Hershey bar nor should we even compare ourselves to the Hershey bars of the world. However, we should never be content to be generic in any form or fashion. We should continue to strive to be the best that we can be and never be comfortable with being less than great. 

Coming from someone who went to college and worked full time simultaneously, I can tell you that the road to your dreams is not always a smooth paved path. Many sacrifices had to be made along the way. 

However, when the road gets rough then we find a way to go around those obstacles. Few things are worse than being at the end of your life and looking back wondering what you could have done. Ideally, we should look back and be proud of what we overcame to achieve our goals. Your goals may be simple or they may be complex. The thing to remember is that you do not need to make a worthless resolution that will quickly be forgotten. Instead, it’s time to figure out not only how to be a better person but also how we can be better to each other.

 

Jack Godbey is a resident of Danville and is a published author. He can be reached at wizardman66@live.com.