Why

PVE BEEN wondering if I’m almost alone in avoiding resolutions, now that it’s that time of year again,

Gatherine

i have my own reasons for not , making solemn, public pro- nouncements to change this or

_ that aspect of my behavior in the coming year — among them is willpower that’s as flabby as a day-old pancake in certain crucial areas.

Quite apart from my own wavering will, I firmly believe North American society in 1992 just isn’: conducive to producing

- vast numbers of individuals with unshakable resolve. Folks along the lines of, say, Joan of Arc or Napoleon.

How can a society where indi-

. viduals are exposed to endless im- - ages-of happy, beautiful people getting exactly what they want — great sex, great beer, great laun-

* NEARLY TWO

WEEKS...

dry, great breath, you name it — cultivate that feisty, do-or-die spirit you need in the resolution game?

Lask you, do the members of the good-time gang in the Club Med ads look tike they have the resolve for anything — apart from making a serious resolution to cavort in the sun next year?

The level of resolve in many of us today is positively subterranean compared to that of a Winston Churchill.

Take smokers. Jusi think of your reaction when that pack-a- day friend of yours tells you she’s

MAILBOX

INSIGHTS resolutions can be

Friday, January 10, 1992 ~ North Shore News ~ 7

"YOU CAN HAVE

going to do it, she’s really going to do it this time, she’s going to smoke her last cigarette NOW.

“Gee, really? That's great,”* you comment, though you feel like saying, ‘‘Yeah, and i also believe aliens will land in my backyard in 24 hours and deliver Elvis into my care and custody."

I've decided to expunge the word “‘resolve’’ from my vocabu- lary (at least from late December to mid-January) and instead use the word ‘‘try.’’

I feel ‘‘try”’ can lead to honest, realistic progress, unlike “resolve,’’ which in the face of a

| Logging keeps forests healthy |

: * Dear Editor:.

a | take issue with your Nov. 22 News Viewpoint, ‘‘Halt logging.’’ “1 would urge you to go and look :at_ Seymour Lake between July and October.

This year, the lake’s water level was down 28 feet. That “exposed 28-foot bank is dried dirt and rock.

When it suddenly. rains heavily, » as it: did this November, all that

dry dust and dirt gets washed down the banks into the lake, whether the water has run along the ground through standing trees or stumps.

Our water is not collected in a plastic-lined pool, | fed by the

rain-drops through clean pipes. It |

runs along the ground into a big hole in the ground. .

Of course the turbidity goes up and the water

level gets

‘discolored! Discoloration and tur-

ake cue from

Dear Editor:

Not long ago the Sierra Club was regarded by many as a respected voice of concerned en- . vironmentalists, .but with the re- cent ranting of Vicky Husband, it is quickly losing credibility amongst the entire public.

* How ridiculous to say that our “unprotected old growth forests will be gone in 12 years. Such a statement completely ignores the fundamental tenets of forest ‘ management.

Under the management plan, much of the Walbran old growth wil] remain for the next 40 years. In addition, there are large tracts of designated wilderness areas and parks that will never be logged.

In all of B.C. we have 6% of the province protected by park designation.

For centuries, Sweden has been regarded as a country on the vanguard of good forest manage- ment, and yet they have protected only 1.4% of the commercial forests. They have virtually no decaying old growth timber Stands.

This is because people realize that the forests, properly manag- ed, will provide funding for much of the generous sociai programs in the country, now and in the future. If more old growth was preserved, there would be less wood available for future genera- tions. This is well understood by

bidity do not harm us.

Bacteria and algae do, and that is why chlorine is put into the water as it comes along miles of pipes to our homes.

1 totally support the carefully managed logging that takes place in .our watersheds to keep a healthy forest and to keep our

- local water rates down.

M. Boniface

' North Yancouver

weden

the public.

In addition, in Sweden by law they must clearcut. By doing so they can control and manage the quality and biodiversity of the future forests.

Those of us in B.C. who are moderates are working hard to provide éonsensus in land use issues, and we will be successful only if opinion is based on facts and sound reasoning, not over- used rhetoric that will accomplish nothing but confusion and misun- derstanding.

The Swedes understand why can’t we?

this,

Bert Gayle West Vancouver

JUST ONE "

challenge, can only expose your embarrassingly low level of en- durance.

I'm also not going to paint myself into a corner by “trying"’ to do something highly specific — like doing 50 leg tifts every morn- ing, combing the dog every day or giving up L.A. Law.

('m going to tackle one of my global problems: I've decided to hang up the cape and try not to be Superwoman..

In the struggle to be a stellar performer on the home and career fronts, | know I’m not alone in feeling a squeeze. A recent

Restaurant Banquet -

trying

cross-Canada poll commissioned by Homemaker's Magazine and conducted by Decima Research found that 81% of women surveyed felt tremendous pressure to be Superwoman. That’s a heckuva lot of women flying around your town on various rescue missions.

To be fair to the males out there — who can also be frantical- ly teying to live up to superhuman expectations — many of them are helping out their mates.

The Homemaker’s poli revealed that 46% of respondents said household tasks are shared equally (this rose to 74% for young cou- ples) and overall, 89% said they're satisfied with the division of labor in their partnership. Still, t know a lot of nearly-burnt-out females who are juggling various balls like mad, hoping they don't drop one.

In my case, trying not to be Superwoman will not necessarily mean flopping and feeling good about it. Mostly it will mean being less obsessive about my perfor- mance as a wife, mother and ca- recr person,

When I took up from my book and notice that the dust is moving like mini-tumbleweeds across the living room floor, J shall turn my attention once again to my book.

When my sweet-toothed hus- band opens every cupboard in the kitchen in search of a fabulous dessert, { shall call out en- thusiastically, ‘*There’s ice cream in the freezer, love!"*

When I feel an obligation to scan every written word in every publication hanging around our household to stay on top of events, I'll build a castle with my | toddler,

Iv'll be great trying to be human

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