Happy September

It has long been my view that the New Year ought to start in September. It lines up so conveniently with the change of seasons – from summer to fall. It coincides with a change of pace – from vacation to work. It seems to me such a happy time with harvest and canning and ripening apples, colourful leaves and sweaters and “bouquets of sharpened pencils,” as Tom Hanks' character writes in the movie “You've Got Mail.”

And then, of course, there are the bright shiny new school supplies that just radiate optimism and hope. All those fresh, unused crayons, the glue sticks that have yet to dry out, so many pencils that haven't been chewed, and of course, the notebooks. The beautiful, blank notebooks that are just waiting to reveal vast amounts of creativity and wisdom, the empty pages that seem to embody the sentiments of Anne Shirley when she says, “Tomorrow is another day with no mistakes in it,” in 

L. M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables. Maybe this will be the year that....

And so in that vein, I hereby submit my new year's resolutions. It is so much easier to make resolutions in September when the sun is still shining than in January when it's a struggle not to just succumb to the “bleak mid-winter” blues.

1. I will wash the dishes.
   I know exactly what Gretchen Rubin means when she writes in her book, The Happiness Project, that “Happiness doesn't always make you feel happy.” One of the things that brings me a ridiculous amount of pleasure is coming downstairs in the morning to clean and empty counters – no remnants of yesterday's work loitering about in the new day. However, in order for me to experience that kind of happiness, I have to actually wash the dishes the night before. This is a chore I would trade for almost any other – I greatly dislike doing the dishes. But now my aim will be to have the dishes done every evening in exchange for that delicious, if delayed, gratification.

2. I will have a plan for my days.
   My position in my family often leaves me feeling like the activities of my days are at the discretion of whoever or whatever calls most loudly or urgently for my attention. Go to town for this, make an appointment for that, deal with these vegetables now or rot and decay are imminent, help find this, make food now, arrange for this activity, clean that now, tend to this sick person. Life, of course, happens and sick people can't be scheduled, but I am determined to be more in charge of my days, to invite more order and structure into my life.

3. I am going to make more food ahead of time.
   Right up there with washing dishes on my dreaded chores list is coming up with supper ideas. I don't mind making supper so much as I struggle to come up with ideas to make, especially when it's left till 5:30 PM. And right up there with coming down to clean counters in gratifying events is opening the freezer to a ready-made supper idea in the form of a frozen casserole or something. I already had the kids each list their ten favorite supper ideas, which gave me approximately 30 ready-made ideas. (If you are wondering how 3 kids times 10 ideas equals approximately 30 ideas, it's because one child wanted to trade extra snack ideas for fewer supper ideas.) So now that I have ideas, I can get cooking! And my husband always says I am a happier person when I have a long-term menu-plan. So here's to a happier wife!

So, clearly, not very lofty goals. But perhaps manageable and perhaps achievable. And perhaps, if I feel more in control of myself in these areas, I will be a happier person which will possibly lead me to being more compassionate and empathetic, more generous and kind-hearted. As Samuel Johnson says, “The business of a wise person is to be happy.” Happy September to all!

“Teach us to number our days aright,

that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

Psalm 90:12