START SMOKING - Brittlestar’s Weekly Newsletter - Issue #50
We’re not saying only cool people wear PeaceLoveCanada.ca apparel. It’s just that every single person we’ve sold some to is.
START SMOKING
New Year’s Eve, 1994.
A giant bar full of young drunks, including me, shouted out the countdown. When it got to “1”…. then Happy New Year, I watched my then wife plant a generous and long lasting kiss on the man she had left me for.
No one was expected to kiss me and that plan was carried out flawlessly.
I wasn’t shocked or hurt about the exuberant celebratory snog. It came as no surprise, but I was lost. Rudderless.
I decided then and there that my New Year’s Resolutions for 1995 would be as follows:
Move to Europe
Start smoking
I did not move to Europe. It turns out that’s a whole thing and requires more than just drunken resolve.
I did start smoking.
For two weeks. Then I stopped when I was reminded of two things:
Cigarettes aren’t that cheap for someone who is broke
Asthma does not pair well with DuMaurier
My New Year’s Resolutions were failures but in the best possible way.
Since then, I’ve tried to avoid resolutions or at the very least make them entertaining (eg. swear more).
If you set resolutions and you can’t stick with them or you don’t achieve them, you feel like a failure.
When in reality, you’re just an idiot…
You know, an idiot for setting those specific and wildly unrealistic resolutions in the first place.
Don’t get me wrong, setting goals is great. It’s important.
But don’t set yourself up for failure.
Aim big. Set little goals on a path to that big goal. You can do that.
Like, if you want to start smoking, start with a few darts on the weekend… no, no, I’m kidding. Please don’t smoke. It’s terrible for you.
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Pictured: Author wears shirt of location he would not move to in two years from then