Page 10 with DeeDee Davis

Page 10

DeeDee Davis, Contributing Writer

I hope you have all thawed from the Christmas freeze and that your plants fared much better than mine. I love gardening, but we are all going to be exceptionally busy when spring comes around this year. Let’s hope all of the plant nurseries are making large orders because every variety is going to be in huge demand. I hate looking at the sad remnants of my gardens, but I am afraid to pull up the remains in the hope that something may have survived and miraculously bud. On to the New Year and all fresh possibilities. One of my favorite things about the New Year is getting a new planner. Not just any new planner works for me. It has to have a nice cover---leather-like, preferably, as this can take the abuse I tend to be guilty of. I like to have a pocket in the cover to hold invitations or letters as back up to their entry on the calendar. And I like nice big blocks with the entire month in front of me, just waiting to be filled with notes. I have learned over the years to make most entries in pencil so that I can erase if plans change. God forbid I have to scribble on my clean planner. Something inside of me hopes that if I keep the planner organized, my life will follow suit. The first thing I do with my new book, in anticipation of the New Year, is lay out an assortment of colored pens. I use an unusual shade to log in every birthday that needs notation. Oh, sure, I could just put them in the computer and get pop up notices, but it’s just not the same. I am also that one that, given the chance, will choose a real newspaper over online editions most of the time. After birthdays, I enter the Auburn football schedule. Nothing, not trips, not weddings, not social events- nothing is allowed to interfere with game day. My niece got married this year IN OCTOBER. I was already planning my excuses for missing her day until I saw that she was having it on a Friday. What a relief! After prioritizing birthdays and college football season, I spend some time reviewing the month on last year’s planner to see if there is anything I need to repeat. It has become painfully obvious that each year is dotted with more doctor’s visits. And it also seems that each year flies by faster than ever. More often than not, I come to the conclusion that I sure spent time on unimportant things last year and make a note to do better. I refer to this calendar countless times a day and depend on it to know where I should be and when I should be there. It really is the most important tool I have, next to my iPhone, of course. And, yes, I keep a much more abbreviated calendar on my phone to avoid ridicule from those who would say I am in the dark ages. Over the past year, it seems we have experienced more news of friends diagnosed with serious illnesses and worse, death of friends, making it all the more important to live every moment on that calendar as fully and richly as possible. The older I get, the more I realize how precious every single second is. So, as I sharpen my pencils and replenish my pens, and begin the annual ritual with my planner, I thank God for my family, my friends, my health and new pages to fill with things that reflect what is really important in life. And what is a New Year without Resolutions? There is plenty in this world we can't change. I can't give Auburn a winning football season or end the war in Ukraine. But I can improve myself. So, here is my list and it probably is applicable for most of us. 1. Assess your fitness level

HONESTLY and act accordingly. Set your minimum exercise requirement and try to do better than that. 2. Choose a new way to get involved in our community.

The old cliché about giving is so true. Help others and you are rewarded more than they are. 3. Appreciate your family.

This one can be tough because there does come a time when enough is enough and forgiveness can be a real challenge.

Not that this has happened to me, but occasionally there is an in-law that will require quiet tolerance. For that matter, it could be an immediate family member.

Tolerance and acceptance are two different subjects and there really isn’t a law that says you must cherish everyone who has the same lineage as you. 4. Write more personal notes and mail them.

Email and texting are fine, but nothing beats a handwritten message.

Happy New Year!

Opinion piece: the views expressed in this article are solely of the writer and not representative of Pensacola Magazine