Resolutions failing? How about a ‘do over’

Are we done with our New Year’s resolutions yet? I’ve moved on to “do-overs.” Who’s with me? Hopefully, many of you remember the 1991 movie, “City Slickers,” starring Billy Crystal, Jack Palance, Daniel Stern, Bruno Kirby, with supporting roles by Patricia Wettig, Helen Slater, Noble Willingham and

Jake Gyllenhaal in his debut. If it doesn’t ring a bell, watch it, if you want to laugh.

It is an American comedy western about three friends going through a midlife crisis. After escaping their emotions on previous “guy” adventures such as running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, they decide, this particular year, to go on a cattle drive from New Mexico to Colorado.

Mitch Robbins, played by Crystal, hates his advertising job. Phil Berquist, played by Stern, hates his grocery store manager job and his overbearing wife. She divorces him when he has an affair with a young store clerk.

Ed Furillo, played by Kirby, has a gorgeous model wife but is scared to death of further commitment, like having children. And, Barbara Robbins, played by Wettig, is sick of her husband, Mitch, who is acting like the whole world just barfed all over him. She tells him to get out of town and find his smile again, if he can.

Mishaps and conflicts abound — starting with Mitch scaring the cattle into a stampede as he grinds beans for his morning coffee. The herd, of course, destroys their campsite. By this time the guys are really feeling lost.

But trail boss Curly Washburn, played by Palance, is the wise old sage who gives them some advice. Just find that “one thing” that is most important to you, he tells them.

“What’s that?” Mitch asks. “That’s what you have to figure out,” replies Curly.

Later on, during a frustrating moment, Phil explodes in anger.

“I’m 40 years old and I’ve wasted my life,” he tells Mitch. Suddenly, the light bulb goes on in Mitch’s head as he tells Phil, “Yeah, but now ya got a chance to start over. Your life is a do-over! You got a clean slate.”

How many of us wish we could just have a “do-over,” as opposed to trying to keep the New Year’s resolutions we made that make us feel like failures? Perhaps, if we focus on that “one thing” that is most important to us, we can give ourselves a “do-over.”

“Life As Is” columnist Anne Mount is a Dayton native and an award-winning journalist, author and screenwriter. Her articles have appeared in“The New York Times,”“San Francisco Chronicle,”“The Dallas Morning News,”“McCall’s,” “Redbook,”“Ladies’ Home Journal,”“Mademoiselle,” “Reader’s Digest” and other publications. Email Anne at acmountwriter@hotmail. com.