2010: Recipe for Change?

"Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed."  ~Cavett Robert


I have long since given up the idea of creating a "resolution," with the ushering in of a new year.  I have no problem in setting goals; but over the years have realized that new year resolutions are usually created in the heat of the moment.   It is easy to make a "pact," with yourself when kazoos are blowing and balloons are descending.   It is such an exciting idea that you have this one moment each year when you can sort of wipe the slate clean and start things anew.   This whole past week I was once again reminded of how the spirit of the New Year fever sweeps over everyone~ young and old.   It is no stretch of the imagination that "weight loss," was the overwhelming cry of change I heard for people anticipating the new year.   Maybe it is a symptom of being jaded that I roll my eyes when I over hear someone pronouncing that they are joining a gym after the New Year is rung in.   My inside voice loudly shouts: "WHATEVER!"   Maybe others don't think in terms of failure versus success when they pronounce these resolutions.   This is the number one reason I no longer think in terms of making sweeping changes in my life at the changing of the new year.   I realize it is a major setup for failure for me.   It is easier on my psyche to attempt some small form of change each day rather than to declare a major shift in my life dependent on the clinking of glasses and loud cheers against a back drop of Auld Lang Syne.


Change is a word that has reached a fever pitch in the last few years.   With the election of the first African American President in America~ change was not only a campaign promise but also a visible palpable tangible word when President Barack Obama became commander in chief.   The tides and constant changing boundary lines of the definition of "change," has been a constant debate the last two years.


I think the most lasting change comes after we learn a lesson.  If this is true and I believe it is then 2010 holds the mother lode of ingredients.   Now whether we will implement the lessons we learn is the difference in just speaking of change or making change happen.  The best change becomes an enduring foundation upon which the construction endures no matter how many storms and sweeping earthquakes of change rock it.


The jury is still out on 2010.   Can we learn from it?   Will the "teachable moments," we lived through in 2010 become catalysts for change and evolution in 2011 and beyond?   Fifteen million unemployed, BP Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, mid-term elections, and many more events rocked 2010.   2010 is not any more different than many of the years that have passed before it; it is just that it is the most current that is passing to make room for 2011.   If we remain in the past  obsessing on all that was wrong or right about 2010 then change will be lost; however if we just toss 2010 away without taking stock of all that happened then we risk forfeiting an opportunity for lasting change as well.


For me one of the most enjoyable rushes I get from cooking is seeing how you can add your own embellishments and build upon recipes.   Add a pinch of this or take away this seasoning, add an extra egg, cook for 5 minutes less, bake at 350 instead of 400.   Cooking is about change; building on that recipe that has been handed down through generations, each generation adding their own subtle or perhaps large change.


2010 held many ingredients.   Some of them were palatable and some of them unsavory.   The challenge for 2011 is to turn these ingredients into recipe for something positive & tasty.