Rutherford Weekly - Shelby NC
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1513751
Page 14 - Rutherford Weekly 828-248-1408 www.rutherfordweekly.com Thursday, December 28-January 3, 2024 293 S Broadway St., Forest City 828-245-0434 Monday & Tuesday 8AM-5PM Thursday & Friday 8AM-5PM Sat. 8AM-12PM • Closed Wed. Not Just Oil, Pennzoil FAST FAST FAST FAST WAY WAY WAY WAY LET US DO YOUR DIRTY WORK! KIDS' CORNER BROUGHT TO YOU BY: Happy New Year. Making New Year's resolutions isn't something I do, but perhaps in the same fashion there are some good habits I could incorporate into my life in 2024 that would be helpful and some bad habits need breaking. Recently I read where we should break the habit of having coffee as soon as we wake up. That would not be helpful for me or anyone else. Honestly, I do not want to get out of bed unless I know there's coffee to drink immediately after I step into my kitchen. I could be addicted to caffeine and the habit of drinking coffee, but for me that's a habit I do not plan to break. I enjoy coffee and it is not fancy coffee, just a good cup of Joe fi rst thing in the morning to start my day. One or two cups is usually the limit or three or four depending on the day's routine. So I will continue to drink coffee fi rst thing in the morning. Perhaps more than the coffee, I enjoy the good creamers that go into making it even more delicious. I enjoy creamer with my coffee, I've been told. One person suggested keeping a journal is a good habit. I can say from experience that's a good thing to do. I have kept a prayer journal since 1988 and each Monday I record the most important events of the previous week. It's so interesting for me to go back 5 years, 15 or 35 years and read about life on a particular day. My sister called me recently to ask me the exact day of her husband's vehicle accident years ago. They knew the year and month, but they needed the exact date. I had journaled that. Prayer journaling is a way to keep in touch with God and see how prayers were answered or not answered in the way we hoped. I learn from both. I kept a Covid diary in 2020 and recorded what was happening with my family and friends during such a sad time and troubling time. Journaling that part of history was important to me. As a teenager I kept a daily diary. One of my best friends at the time also kept a diary and we shared notes about the kinds of diaries we had for the New Year and what we might write. Journaling in a diary with a tiny key that locked all your special secrets away from the world, and your parents, was important to this teenager more than 55 years ago. One year at the end of December, I was panicking because I did not have my new diary to begin the new year. I wanted my parents to take me to town to buy one, but they weren't in the mood to take me shopping. Daddy advised me to write down whatever it was I was going to write and transfer it in the new diary as soon as I got one. I really didn't want to do that, but if my mind is correct, that's what I did and he was right. I still have two or three of those diaries. They are simply hilarious and fun to recall what was happening a long time ago, such as what Mama had cooked for supper. I am in the habit of watching or listening to every episode of The Andy Griffi th Show, Law and Order Special Victims Unit, Little House on the Prairie and The Waltons as often as possible. I am not always sitting in front of the television, but I'm doing things like writing columns, news stories, talking on the phone or reading while the television noise is in the background. I plan to get into the habit of reading more books in 2024 as I try to quieten the noise of television. A dear friend made it a habit this year to stop watching television and read more. It's been amazing the number of books she's read and absolutely loved breaking the television habit. Good habits are what we all need, I guess, and bad habits, well I need to break some of those. I had the good habit many years ago of driving up to Lake Lure or Chimney Rock at least once a week for a news story, lunch or a rendezvous with friends. I always found a reason to leave the newsroom and head west on Hwy. 74. I don't visit as often as I once did, but I'm planning to get back into the habit. I read the other day about cats and how they will take over social media in 2024. I am in the habit of watching as many of those funny cat videos as possible on my phone from different reels. They make me laugh and make me envious. I wish Blue could stand on his hind legs, look wide-eyed out a window and make a funny face at something, like the cats in the videos. At least 45 years ago I wrote a story about a woman who had gone to Sunday school without missing for 50 years. I remember her telling me it became such a habit, she never missed. She said it was a good habit. Good habits can also include getting alone and being still for a few minutes and praying, reading the Bible and being thankful. Make it a habit this year, perhaps, to volunteer somewhere. It will be life changing. I need to break the bad habit of procrastinating, like I do when it's column writing time. What will the new year bring? Only God knows, but one thing I've learned this year for sure is to be in the habit of telling family and friends you love them every opportunity you have. Contact Jean: gordonjean211@gmail.com MAKING NEW HABITS CAN BE GOOD FOR THE SOUL By: Jean Gordon Call Today! 828-248-1408 828-248-1408 Make sure your Make sure your business gets business gets SPOTTED! What Can Do For You?