If you feel like I do these first few weeks of the New Year, then I suspect that you are equally pleased that 2013 has come to a close.
It was not a terrible year that came to a thud, but it was not particularly terrific, either. We had higher hopes when the year dawned, and in many ways we punted these dreams into the year ahead, fingers and toes crossed.
I also suspect that after 2013, there may be people in your professional and personal lives that you also would like to punt. They come to us in the form of nemeses, unfriendly rivals, thorns in our sides or just downright annoyances. Truthfully, it seems that everything would be much better for all of us without such nuisances in our lives. They can present themselves as shape shifting fibbers, backstabbers, master manipulators, political hacks, sniveling snobs, ego-maniacs or bi-polar crazies.
Why do you think soap operas, telenovelas and shows like The Real Housewives of (insert any city here) are so popular with the masses? People love a villain, even if they drive us crazy and make us do even crazier things. Ugh.
They can bring out the worst in us, even with all the finishing courses, etiquette training and good manners our mothers instilled in us. Even a member of the Junior League has been known to crumble in front of their nemesis, acting out in a way most unbecoming of a lovely lady. No amount of apology notes will fix this.
And with the dawn of the next political cycle upon us, it is time to say good riddance to some of these old folks and brace ourselves for the new crop of bridge blockers and wiener tweeters.
I choose to adopt the “don’t let the door hit you in the butt” mentality and walk in the opposite direction, but that does not mean we are over the hump as of yet. On the contrary, we are still fighting and clawing and disinfecting and cleansing. No break is completely clean when it comes to the human condition. It is more of a process, a gradual salving of a wound that just will not heal, no matter the treatment. We never really recover when we have been so wronged.
And so, here we are, shouting “Good Riddance” into the wind, only to have the echo splash us in the face yet again. For no rival or prickly thorn ever truly goes away.
But, this is no dream. This is a reality. An opportunity. The dawn of a new day. Maybe there will be an era of good manners starting to take firm hold and we all will be the direct beneficiaries. I do not want to be ensconced in the negative; rather, I wish to be bathed in the positivity that is a new beginning.
So, goodbye for now and hello to a more desirable, pest-free and positive people opportunity.
And, good riddance 2013, once and for all.
