“The greatest glory in living lies not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail.”

–Nelson Mandela

Well, we’re nine days into 2024. If you’ve already failed to keep your New Year’s resolutions, don’t despair. Studies show about 25 percent of us drop them in the first week of the new year and almost half of us do so by the end of January. But there’s always next year!

For some folks, 2023 was a year for creating happy memories: engagements, weddings, births, promotions, or retirement. Others are glad to bid adieu to last year–hoping to put behind them illness, financial hardship, divorce, unemployment, or personal loss. Each person’s circumstance is unique.

What we all share, however, is a new year and the promise it brings. The slate is clean, and those things that we can control give us opportunities for improvement, new endeavors, or simply do-overs. Maybe a chance to correct a misdirected course.

There’s a saying that goes like this: “We can’t change the direction of the wind, but we can adjust our sails.” The defeatist gripes about the wind or, even worse, spits into it; the dreamer’s content to wait for the wind to change; but the activist takes charge, gets creative, and makes adjustments.

A simpler version of the same sentiment is, “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!”

Life brings its share of defeats, disappointments, and discouragement. The only way to overcome them is with dogged persistence. What is Thomas Edison best known for? The electric light bulb, of course. But his own records indicate it took him over 2,700 tries to actually achieve a working model for the invention. That’s persistence!

Would you have had that kind of determination? I sure wouldn’t. I’d have drawn the line at 2,500 attempts and moved on to something simpler–like splitting the atom or creating world peace!

Most of us don’t have the creative genius of an Edison. No matter. We need only concern ourselves with what we can control and strive to achieve; things not nearly as earth changing as the creation of the light bulb. Mother Teresa once said, “In this life, few of us will do great things, but all of us can do small things in a great way.” Great advice!

Finally, whatever you dust off and try to improve, or start anew, don’t expect perfection. Do your best and take the small victories. And don’t measure yourself against other people. Be yourself–after all, as someone once said,  everyone else is taken.