Step back and focus on the bigger picture

Time to take a break from obsessively watching, listening and reading about the latest news. Step away from the computer. Shut down Facebook and Twitter for a few minutes.  Realize that life continues to go on in the world around us.

What have you missed?

The Patriots are back in the Super Bowl! That’s right. Love ’em or hate ’em, Tom Brady and the boys are in the Big Game again. And if they beat the Atlanta Falcons, there are all sorts of records to be broken. Even if you don’t care about football, it’s always fun to see what the advertisers have paid big bucks to creatively toss at the television audience. Sometimes, the ads are better than the game!

Need a different sports diversion? There is always the road to March Madness. Some people love college basketball. Both the University of Rhode Island Rams and the Providence College Friars men’s teams are doing well this year. But in our house, it’s all about our alma mater, the Northwestern Wildcats, who are having the best season in the school’s history and are on the cusp of making it into the NCAA tournament for the first time EVER. (Poor NU is the only top conference school never to make “the Dance,” even though they hosted the first NCAA championship.)

My husband is happily living a sports year for the ages. First, his beloved Chicago Cubs won, then the NU football team was victorious in the Pinstripe Bowl, and now there are the Pats and the NU basketball team successes. All his teams are winning big.

Of course, you’ve got the Celtics, Bruins and Providence Bruins, all in the middle of their seasons. The Celtics were holding their own at No. 3 in the Eastern Conference as of press time. The Bruins had won more games than they’d lost, and the P-Bruins were third in the Atlantic Division.

Tired of the cold winter and political controversies? It’s not too early to focus on warm sunny days to come.

Baseball season is coming up quickly. Spring training starts the week of Feb. 13, when pitchers and catchers will report for their first workouts. Red Sox Truck Day is Feb. 6. That’s the annual equipment sendoff from Fenway Park in Boston. Tickets for spring training games for all teams are already on sale. In fact, some games are sold out, including some of those sunny Arizona games for the World Champions.

By the time the hockey and basketball seasons are over, I’m usually wondering why they last so long. The weather is warmer and baseball is well underway. But for now, it seems appropriate to have lots of indoor diversions for the long winter.

Not into sports teams? Get out and take a walk. Many of us at least aspire to stay in shape through the winter months. Stop in to J-Fitness at the Dwares Jewish Community Center, in Providence, and use the facilities. Check out the winter program guide. There’s a lot going on in our community, and you can see the beautiful JCC renovations as they get closer to completion.

And how are you doing on your winter projects or resolutions? Remember those things you resolved to do a month ago? Only about 58 percent of people keep their New Year’s resolutions past one month, according to a recent Statistic Brain Research Institute survey.

It’s the beginning of February. Time to reevaluate. Let’s get back on track with the business of living!