"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today."

Well we made it around the sun again.

It’s time to convince ourselves that we are going to be better this year. More fit. Slimmer. Nicer. A new and better you. A You 2.0.

Not happening! Ripping off a sheet on the calendar that says December and looking at the new one that says January is nowhere near the motivation most of us need to change. As we grow older we realize we are who we are and who we are is not interested in what the fucking calendar says. We need more motivation. Need to be pushed a little harder. Need to be slapped in the face every now and then. Really, we need to have the shit scared out of us!

Now I don’t know about you but three ghosts didn’t visit me over the holidays and I did not have an amazing revelation of life and living. I wish I did but nope. I did however see an enormous amount of very creative artists leave this planet last year. And many of them left way to soon.

Death is always a great motivator but we don’t like to dwell on it all that often. I mean, it’s no fun sitting around pondering our upcoming demise so we have a tendency to not really think about that. I mean, Scrooge didn’t give it a second thought until the dark ghost in the shroud showed up in act 3 and showed him his future…or lack there of.

But…like it or not…and most of us don’t…there is one inescapable conclusion on this little ride we call life. It’s going to end. And with every new January 1 we step one step closer to that exit. So it is natural that at least once a year we should take stock of where we are, what we are doing and what is the plan.

James Dean once said, “Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today.” I seem to really be thinking about that quote more and more as the January’s pile up and the December’s pass into the rearview mirror. I mean there does come a time when you have to be real with yourself and admit that there are a hell of a lot fewer tomorrows than there are yesterdays and if you are planning on anything you might want to get that bad-boy started. There’s another great little axiom that states want to make god laugh…tell him your plans. That doesn’t mean you should stop planning or dreaming…it simply means you might want to get on with it!

So as 2017 raises its ugly head over the horizon remember that you are lucky enough to see it. You are still here. As Scrooge said, there is still time. Enjoy and be grateful. My plan is to start embracing that time a little tighter, a little closer and a hell of a lot more often. I’m not going to become more miserable on a diet or drive myself crazy giving up a lot of shit I enjoy. Yes, I will try to live healthier, smoke less…drink a little less and at the very least recognize that fact that if I want a few extra tomorrow’s I may want to “clean up” a couple of the todays. But I will enjoy the cake, the scotch, the day and the night. I will also hit that Dean quote a little harder regarding my work here. I still want to get a lot done and I still have a ton of dreams to get through.

Maybe there was a ghost and he told me, “Remember Tom, one day you will look up from your I-Phone and you won’t be here anymore.”

Happy New Year to all.