Change/8–Change or Die? Really?

We get our New York Times via mail, a hideously slow and inconvenient way to receive a daily newspaper, but the only home delivery option available in our so-called “town”. The papers tend to arrive four at a time, four days late. We swear up and down every week that we’re going to cancel, but environmental damage aside, the pleasure of holding the paper has thus far won out over the absurdity of its delayed and in-bulk arrival.

So it wasn’t until this morning that I got around to reading a short article from exactly a week ago, in the Thursday Styles section. Basically, it asserts that we all say we’re going to change, and most of us don’t. And one key to making changes in your life is, in fact, not to start small, but to go big. Try to change big, and you’re more likely to see quick results that will encourage you to pursue ever more change. (This advice from the author of a book entitled Change or Die. Is that title supposed to be motivating? It makes me want to go hide under the covers.) The article, of course, is accompanied by pictures of poor Oprah, both fat and thin, the current poster girl for failed resolutions. I’m on the same rollercoaster as she is, so I feel for her, at the same time as I think, “Well, if I had a daily trainer and a private chef, I would weigh [insert magic number here.] What’s her problem?” Her problem, is, I think, all of our problem, the one I try over and over again to explain to the kids. Life, indeed, isn’t fair. We are all human, and we fail as often–or more so–than we succeed. The trick is not to delay the attempt.

You can read the article here.