Yet Another New Year’s Resolution: Getting Your Ducks in a Row

With the calendar year drawing to a close, the holidays almost behind us, and the impending New Year right in front of us, most of us would just like to sit it out for a while and let January’s cold, snowy days and long, starry nights gift us with a well-needed respite.

But NO! All those New Year’s resolutions we promised ourselves we’d keep must be attended to now or we’ll never live into them! Doesn’t the old adage: “When you make a promise to yourself, you hold a fool accountable,” come to the forefront right about now? And if we let January 2nd go by without running to the gym at 5:30 in the morning, we might condemn ourselves to another fat, lazy year. Jeez – will we ever let ourselves off the hook?

If I were queen, the New Year would be in September after the summer, when everyone returns full tilt to school, work and the like. When those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer are indeed waning, the daylight shifting noticeably by the 2nd week of August and the evenings have that touch of cool – it feels like a new beginning. But January??! We’re just recovering from a hectic flurry of holidays starting with Halloween in October and ending with the New Year.

It’s time for a break, and I say take it. After all, if the bears hibernate now, why shouldn’t we?

For we mediators, there are always those few times during the year when we know the phone is going to ring, ring, ring:

• The first week of January
• That time in March or April just after the spring break
• Early July when the kids go off to camp
• And then again in September when the kids are back in school.

For many, those times seem to be the right times to make the changes they have been promising themselves. It’s a time to “get those ducks in a row” and move forward.

The idiom, “ducks in a row” means to be organized – whether it’s emotionally, mentally, financially or any other which way. It is simply a state of mind. Taking the step to pursue marriage counseling or seeking the help of a mediator for a separation or divorce, may be one duck that can take a little time to get in line, and that’s okay. Perhaps you need the downtime during the spare and stark days of January, unfettered from all the hoopla of the holiday season to think things through more thoroughly. And that’s as it should be. We’re not running any races here. So put your feet up, enjoy the quiet of January and take the time you need. The ducks can wait.