ON THE BEAT
ROBERT L. SPINKS, MA, MS
COMMENTATOR
SEQUIMCHIEF@AOL.COM
Resolutions from a Police Chief Published on Wed, December 27, 2007 by Robert Spinks, Sequim (WA) Police Chief http://www.sequimgazette.com/spinks It‟s the beginning of a new year! The holidays are winding down, celebrations are over and you feel enthusiastic, because this coming year is going to be different, right? Tradition dictates that every 365 days, we try to kick bad habits and start our life anew. This tradition dates back to 153 BC to the time of the Roman Empire – and yet we still have trouble achieving our resolutions! Fast forward to today, and we‟ll see people pounding the pavement or venturing back into the SARC with steely determination. We‟ll watch coworkers go „cold turkey‟ or don nicotine patches to kick that smoking habit . . . again. Others will give volunteering another try. The telling truth is that - we fail dismally when it comes to sticking to our New Year's Resolutions. In the back of our minds we hope that the coming year will
be better than the one we leave behind. Truth is, in most cases we are the masters of our destiny – maybe our resolutions will help to reinforce that. In the past, I‟ve committed to working out, spending more time with family, to enjoy life more, to get out of debt, to learn something more, go for a vacation, help others and get organized. So far, the working out seems to have dropped off the last couple of years; I‟m working on the quality family time; I do enjoy life; I‟m still in debt – but, I did consolidate my bills; I finished my second Master‟s degree in 2005; vacations are a bigger priority; my profession is a helping one and I‟m better organized because I have a top notch administrative assistant! In the long run, I‟m doing better than many of my other resolution makers! In 2008, I‟m going to try re-committing to that list of partial successes and aiming at checking off every item this year as successfully accomplished! With that in
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mind, remember what Thomas Edison said, “The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.� Have a safe and secure year! Robert Spinks Sequim Chief of Police
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