I’m planning on breaking up with my bathrobe today. It was inevitable. The relationship began out of a deep need for comfort, but that simply isn’t enough to keep it going forever.

So I’m writing it a letter. Maybe that’s the coward’s way out, but it works for me today, ok? Don’t judge.

My dear friend,

I was unexpectedly ill over the holiday season. Fever and chills drove me straight to the hook you were waiting on. You wrapped yourself around me, eager to help. Oh, how good your warm, fuzzy softness felt against my skin. The comfort you brought was beyond what anything else could give.

This went on for days. You stayed close against me on the couch and warmed me during the night on my bed. It was a love relationship for sure. I desperately needed you.

But now? I’m feeling a little better and you don’t want to change. You still want to sit on the couch all day and do nothing. I’ve tried to take you with me to other areas of the house, but the lure to sit is so strong and you are relentless in your purpose.

I’m sorry, but I can’t go back to what once was. I must move on.

So that’s it. If you can’t give me what I need, as in some freedom to get back to normal and even move forward again, we have to be through.

I’ll toss you in the washer and freshen you up and see you another time, when we both have need of each other. If it’s not mutual, we simply can’t be together.

Thank you for all you gave me through these tough days. I’ll always savor the memories.

Love,

Your grateful friend

I hope you find the humor in that. The truth is, there are times in life when we must take a break. Sometimes it’s physical healing, sometimes mental or emotional. A break can be necessary.

Metaphorically speaking though, you can’t remain in the bathrobe zone for too long. At some point, it’s time to get back up and get going again. To throw off the robe and move outside of that comfort zone.

New Year’s Day is always a perfect one for that. Fresh start, new beginnings, new goals. Another chance to get it right.

This year, I plan to take things differently. Not just be a dreamer, but a doer. Yes, I dream a lot. I’ve got all kinds of things I want to do, plans I’d like to carry out. But that’s where it keeps stalling. In the dreamer stage. I’m successful only in my imagination.

This is visible from my office desk, to remind me of my goal to be a doer and not just a dreamer. Yes. That’s my word for the year. “Doer.”

I’m still a bit under the weather, but I’m throwing off the robe of comfort, getting dressed and preparing for a better year to come.

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)

Happy, happy new year. Out with the old, in with the new!

~Carolyn

“Life isn’t easy. Together we can make it better.”