In the last 33 days of this year, we can all make some year-end adjustments. Thanksgiving and Christmas come with a touch of melancholy. Not because the days are sad, but they remind us of all those wonderful days we have enjoyed.

This past year my next-door neighbor, Chuck, after much suffering, died. His wife, Regina, continues to brighten our neighborhood. Another neighbor, Jarred, his wife Amy and beautiful daughters have moved. Long time friends throughout the world have completed their earthly journey.

Our grandchildren get older just like their parents and grandparents. I remember when I was their age. If they are fortunate, they will someday be as old as I am.

At the end of November is a time to get a jump on New Year’s resolution. Get a running start and you may keep them longer than the day you make them.

How are you doing with body weight? It must be tiring to carry around extra weight every hour of every day.

The simple solution to excess weight is to not eat so much and eat the right kind of food. Leave the table while you would still enjoy eating another portion. Forgo that luxury and 60 minutes later, you will be very comfortable. Eat all you can and an hour later you could feel like a stuffed turkey and may begin to resemble one.

Eat sensibly and you will begin to lose weight. Just cut the calories and the pounds will drop. Caloric consumption determines the weight for most of us. Too many calories mean too much fat. Exercise until you are ready to drop, then eat like a starving pig and the weight will likely remain.

For most students, the end of November may mean that it is too late to change their grades very much. But do your best to salvage a little from the tuition, room and board that you or your parents had to cough up so you could play at being a student. I once knew a college student who attended every thing a student could be in, belonged to every club that would accept him, was at every party and everybody on campus knew him.

Nobody knew him as a serious student. He was paying big bucks to play. After flunking for three consecutive semesters, he was drafted into military service. After four years of tough full time service, he went back to college convinced that college success meant that he would have to read, study, attend classes, spend hours in the library, study in his room several hours each night and be on time for every class. He did successed!

If you are a student of any kind, take an honest look at how you are doing and determine to do better — beginning now. Read a lot, think in your spare time, carefully listen, learn how to speak and write, ask questions and sit close to the front. Somebody is paying a lot of money for what you are supposed to be doing.

Remember what Thanksgiving and Christmas are all about. Forget their true meaning and you may flunk everything. Get in touch with old friends and never forget your family. Samuel Johnson, English author and lexicographer left these words for our consideration, “The true art of memory is the art of attention.”

Pay attention to what is going on and what you are supposed to be doing and life will be filled with blessings. An Old Testament passage worth reading, Ezekiel 34:24-26, concludes with this promise, “There shall be showers of blessing.” The Lord said it and we can all believe it. Make the necessary adjustments now and be ready to begin the New Year with success in mind.