Commentary on 2012, life resolutions for 2013

Unques­tion­ably 2012 was a chal­leng­ing year, starkly con­firmed by newly-released Amer­i­can Red Cross sta­tis­tics. The orga­ni­za­tion responded to 113 large-scale dis­as­ters in 42 states and U.S. ter­ri­to­ries through Dec. 1, 2012. My appre­ci­a­tion for this long-enduring ser­vice orga­ni­za­tion has increased expo­nen­tially. Pri­mar­ily staffed by vol­un­teers who often travel long dis­tances from home for extended time pro­vid­ing aid to those felled by tragedy, it was founded in 1881 by Amer­i­can phil­an­thropist Clara Bar­ton. Our nation has endured hell this year. Thank­fully the major­ity of us sur­vived, even though we are poten­tially impacted for­ever by sev­eral of these heart­break­ingly mem­o­rable events.

The start of a New Year is an appro­pri­ate time for both reflec­tion and assess­ment of our lives, beyond the typ­i­cally tried-and failed New Year’s Res­o­lu­tions to lose weight and be nicer to your mother-in-law. Did you accom­plish some­thing of per­sonal pride dur­ing 2012? What do you want to change in your life for 2013?

Many of us talk about hav­ing a “bucket list” but are those per­sonal goals writ­ten, posted and shared with a sig­nif­i­cant other or a close friend? Noth­ing boosts self-confidence more than chal­leng­ing your­self to try some­thing new and (hope­fully) suc­ceed­ing. And if failed, at least you attempted to mas­ter some­thing out­side of your “com­fort zone.” Shar­ing a new adven­ture with a spouse or part­ner can solid­ify a mar­riage or rela­tion­ship and be a source of shared mem­o­ries. Vol­un­teer­ing as a cou­ple can pro­vide both ben­e­fi­cial time together while also help­ing others.

Are you tak­ing proac­tive mea­sures to pre­vent ill­ness or phys­i­cal mal­adies? Exer­cise is essen­tial for both a healthy body and men­tal acu­ity. If a gym mem­ber­ship is not of inter­est, how about swim­ming as an alter­na­tive? The two-year-old Meek Aquatic Cen­ter on Ohio Wesleyan’s cam­pus is an undis­cov­ered gem to most Delaware res­i­dents. If the pool is uninvit­ing, there are a mul­ti­tude of other local exer­cise options.

Beyond our neigh­bor­hoods, there are numer­ous areas in Delaware County offer­ing nature trails per­fect for exer­cise. Preser­va­tion Parks has nine sites in our county includ­ing Gal­lant Woods Pre­serve just off of U.S. 23 North, Deer Haven Pre­serve acces­si­ble from Lib­erty Road, and Emily Trapha­gen Pre­serve in Pow­ell, with some offer­ing sum­mer con­certs in addi­tion to edu­ca­tional activ­i­ties and walk­ing paths.

Three of my favorite stay-in-shape activ­i­ties are run­ning with my dog, ball­room danc­ing, and yoga. The Humane Soci­ety of Delaware County (HSDC) has many deserv­ing companion-ready canines, and felines too. Noth­ing keeps you mov­ing and is more con­ducive for meet­ing oth­ers than walk­ing a dog. How about sav­ing a life and acquir­ing a faith­ful friend? The annual “Fur­Ball Valentine’s Cel­e­bra­tion” fundraiser for the HSDC is Feb. 9 at the Medal­lion Club. Also, our city is for­tu­nate to have a ball­room stu­dio on U.S. 23 offer­ing almost-daily group classes, indi­vid­ual instruc­tion and reg­u­lar Friday-night par­ties. No mat­ter how bad your day, once you start danc­ing, “happy hor­mone” endor­phins are acti­vated, mak­ing it seem­ingly impos­si­ble to remain in a melan­choly mood, along with using mus­cles you might not know ever existed. Other options include free yoga offered down­town at Per­fect Har­mony Fit­ness at 7 p.m. Wednes­days. For can­cer sur­vivors, the Can­cer Sup­port Com­mu­nity on Sawmill near the inter­sec­tion with Pow­ell Road also offers free yoga and a mul­ti­tude of other no-cost well­ness pro­grams to heal both “body and mind.”

Should a per­sonal tragedy or life-ending ill­ness occur dur­ing 2013, do you have a nota­rized will? If so, is it some­where acces­si­ble and do fam­ily mem­bers know its loca­tion? Are you orga­nized with other impor­tant doc­u­ments such as your Social Secu­rity card, auto­mo­bile title, birth cer­tifi­cates for you and your chil­dren, bank state­ments, prior tax returns if you are audited, mar­riage license, and mil­i­tary dis­charge papers?

And finally, have you expressed wishes to loved ones con­cern­ing the poten­tial of being an organ or tis­sue donor, along with plans for your funeral? Presently, more than 117,000 Amer­i­cans are await­ing a com­pat­i­ble organ at 244 U.S. trans­plant cen­ters. Leav­ing a legacy of giv­ing some­one else a second-chance at life could be the best gift of all.

Yes 2012, it is great relief you are now behind us. As we wel­come 2013, my hope for every­one read­ing this is that you chal­lenge your­self to try some­thing new and ben­e­fi­cial, get in shape, become bet­ter orga­nized, save a life, vol­un­teer, invest time and effort in impor­tant rela­tion­ships, and pre­pare NOT to “live for­ever.” Achiev­ing a few of the ideas I have men­tioned ver­sus the per­pet­ual fail­ure cycle of stale New Year’s Res­o­lu­tions might make 2013 a much-improved year, while pos­i­tively impact­ing your life for the long-haul ver­sus just the short-term. And finally, start pen­ning that “bucket list” since we never know how many days we have remaining.

Mar­i­ann Main is a Licensed Coun­selor and a Delaware native. Her col­umn appears weekly on Wednes­days. To sub­mit a ques­tion and have Mar­i­ann answer it anony­mously, visit delgazette.com/life-questions-with-local-answers or send mail to the Delaware Gazette office, 40 N. San­dusky St., suite 203, Delaware, OH 43015.

Posted by Mariann Main on Jan 1 2013. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Comments can be made below.