Staying on Focus in 2002

Has your new year plummeted off to a sad start? Fear not! It is only the middle of January, and there is still plenty of time and fresh starts available to fulfill your resolutions, hopes and wishes for the much-anticipated 2002.

People tend to look at a new year and think that nothing will go wrong, at least for the first few days after the clock strikes midnight on January 1.

But life doesn't really pay attention to Time's Square, or the turn of numbers. Bad things can occur at any time. So if something crummy has fallen at your feet just two weeks into the new year, or you've already botched up a resolution - take heart. You can still regain your sense of a fresh year and make your dreams reality.

According to Dr. Gerald Bograd, chief of Mental Health for the U.S. Army Health Clinic, Hanau, there is more stress packed into the four to six weeks preceding New Year's than any other time of the year.

"The holidays can be demanding, time-consuming, stressful and intense. They're loaded with a lot of unrealistic expectations for many. People tend to want their imperfect lives to suddenly become perfect during the holidays. They want everyone to be happy; they want people who haven't been together for years to magically get along; they want families who've had difficulties all year long to use that time for reconciliation and healing."

For those who have fallen short of a resolution, one columnist offers hope.

Eugenie Rose, fitness guru of The Sun, Bremerton, Washington, says barely three weeks into January and already many plans for millennium fitness have been kicked to the curb.

"Maybe not intentionally, but for one reason or another, workouts have become fewer and further between. Those who have thrown the towel in early have been replaced by patient, consistent exercisers with the right attitudes. These exercisers tenaciously hang in there because they know it's not enough to just make it to the gym. They realize they need the right mental approach to not only get them going, but to keep them going."

Although she writes about fitness in her column, her principals to overcome a resolution gone bad can be applied to nearly all resolutions.

"With an all-or-nothing attitude, we set ourselves up to lose before we even get out of the gate. So, if that's the wrong approach, the wrong attitude, what's right? For

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