The American aphorist Mason Cooley once said, “Procrastination makes easy things hard, hard things harder.”  In this third day of the new year I have tried to get a jump-start by not putting off my New Year’s Resolutions until day one.  Instead of closing 2020 with my vices I tried to think of starting this new year with more virtues.  I read something a friend posted on Facebook that really resonated with me.  It was about choosing your hard.  Since then I’ve been thinking about this; I tend not to like the idea that life is hard.  I try to see it for all its potential.  I also try and think positively and admitting that things can be hard seems negative.  But things ARE hard; its how we choose to deal with them that turns this optimistically for me.  Losing weight is hard.  Being overweight is hard.  Chose your hard.  For years we had paid a woman to help clean our home once a week.  It really wasn’t clean (never dusted; never thoroughly wiped down) but she was nice and I did not want to make waves.  I KNEW our floors were not clean because our feet would get dirty, which was a great embarrassment to me.  However, living with two wolf hybrids is not exactly conducive to having pristine floors.  She had no vacuum cleaner but I think she was saving up for it.  Then one day she said she was sick and didn’t show up for work.  Naturally I was glad she chose to isolate herself if she had Covid but I sent numerous queries as to how she was and/or if I could help but she did not respond.  I began to wonder if she would even return.  Then a dear friend brought a movie over and he said my cleaning lady was deplorable; that there was dust everywhere.  I cannot explain it, but somehow he managed to convey this without me dissolving into tears.  I knew he wasn’t judging ME; rather the job that was supposed to be done.  And so I looked online in search of a housekeeper.  I know I have mentioned before I am not the most adept with change.  Some people change houses like others change toothbrushes.  I confess I do not actively seek change unless it is essentially thrust upon me.  I realize that without change things would eventually stagnate; I just cannot seem to change for change’s sake.  I think it was by the grace of God that I found this woman and her employee.  My word, EVERY part of my house is clean … from the ceiling fans (which hadn’t been dusted in years) to the baseboards which were cleaned by hand.  I have walked through our house and have marveled at the shiny floors and immaculate windows which I suppose most moneyed people (inadvertently) take for granted.  For years I had chosen my hard, and it proved only to be hard on me.  Look at this silly picture of our bathroom from our new housekeeper!  (His name is now Mr. Flushy.)  It absolutely MADE my day and was such an unexpected delight.  Changing can be hard; but staying can be even harder.  If there is something you are not happy with in your life this is the beginning of a new year!  I encourage you:  don’t inwardly complain; outwardly change.