Fresh

Never frozen,
ever green,
a New Year’s attitude
blossoms
in the heart of winter.

Thoughts

Some say it takes 30 days in a row of doing a thing before it becomes a habit, 45 if you're stubborn, and 60 if the task in any way promotes physical health or mental wellbeing.

That thing I did yesterday with so much enthusiasm wasn't the end of it? Just the beginning? Now I need to force myself to do it again, push myself again and again, until I forge a new pathway in my brain to form the muscle memory that will pull me through the rest of the year?

A fresh attitude is part of the reinforcement process, and not just for yourself.

Smiles. That's the key. Smiles to encourage everyone around you in their own battles to form their own pathways. New Year's resolutions are parallel roads through family and community, built on a feedback loop of smiles.

Day 2 walks in the footprints of Day 1. Remember what you did yesterday, how you did it, and how it made you feel. Capture that memory. Move the construction project 24 hours down the road.

And don't forget to smile.

Today's header image includes another hash mark and the cork from a bottle of bubbly opened at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve. You can't keep time in a bottle, but you can keep the cork.

More Tomorrow.

Addendum: This was originally sent out with a 2005 date, showing how long it takes to develop the habit of writing "2006" in a checkbook.