--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We spend January 1st walking through our…" description: "\"We spend January 1st walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5d/ellen-goodman-6219_balance_we-spend-january-1st-walking-through-our_1805364.png" --- # We spend January 1st walking through our lives, room by… ![“We spend January 1st walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives...not looking for flaws, but for potential.” quote by Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5d/ellen-goodman-6219_balance_we-spend-january-1st-walking-through-our_1805364.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5d/ellen-goodman-6219_balance_we-spend-january-1st-walking-through-our_1805364.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5d/ellen-goodman-6219_balance_we-spend-january-1st-walking-through-our_1805364.png) > “We spend January 1st walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives...not looking for flaws, but for potential.” [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reflect on life’s areas, seeking strengths rather than fixing flaws, to foster growth. **In simple terms:** Look for potential, not just problems. Key Takeaway Shift focus to strengths. Themes self‑improvement reflection potential Mood hopeful reflective Type motivational inspirational When to use this quote - personal planning - career development - relationship building - health goals Key Concepts growth mindset self‑assessment Questions to Reflect On - What strengths are you overlooking? - How can you balance fixing flaws with nurturing potential? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on positives may ignore necessary fixes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Balance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/balance/) [Christmas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christmas/) [Flaws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flaws/) [Happy new year](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happy-new-year/) [January 1st](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/january-1st/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [New year](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-year/) [New years day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-years-day/) [Work to be done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work-to-be-done/) ## Related quotes > [Maybe this year, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives not looking for flaws, but looking for potential.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/maybe-this-year-we-ought-to-walk-through-the-rooms-of-our-lives-not/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [I walk into rooms and I don't know why I'm there. I'm like, 'Why am I standing in front of the toilet now?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-broderick/i-walk-into-rooms-and-i-don-t-know-why-i-m-there-i-m-like-why-am-i/) [Matthew Broderick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-broderick/) > [There is this expectation that as January 1st dawns, we're going to do it differently. Moreover, there's this kind of pressure, that even if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-stryker/there-is-this-expectation-that-as-january-1st-dawns-we-re-going-to-do/) [Rod Stryker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-stryker/) > [The answer is hard work. What are you doing on Christmas Eve? Are you riding your bike? January 1st - are you riding your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-armstrong/the-answer-is-hard-work-what-are-you-doing-on-christmas-eve-are-you/) [Lance Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-armstrong/) > [Go to the bathroom in December 31st at 12:56 pm come out january 1st 1:02 am and say](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author-name/go-to-the-bathroom-in-december-31st-at-12-56-pm-come-out-january-1st/) Author Name > [I work hard on New Year's eve as I perform at shows. And then round it off by spending a lazy day on January…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahima-chaudhry/i-work-hard-on-new-year-s-eve-as-i-perform-at-shows-and-then-round-it/) [Mahima Chaudhry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahima-chaudhry/) > [ In Chicago, they've had thousands of shootings, thousands since January 1st \[2016\]. Is this a war-torn country? What are we doing? And we have… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/in-chicago-they-ve-had-thousands-of-shootings-thousands-since-january/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [the object of a new year is not that we should have a new year, but rather that we should have a new soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-object-of-a-new-year-is-not-that-we-should-have-a-new-year-but/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Under current law, on January 1, 2013, there's going to be a massive fiscal cliff of large spending cuts and tax increases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-bernanke/under-current-law-on-january-1-2013-there-s-going-to-be-a-massive/) [Ben Bernanke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-bernanke/) > [This bright new year is given me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-arthur-ward/this-bright-new-year-is-given-me/) [William Arthur Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-arthur-ward/) > [The cosmic calendar compresses the local history of the universe into a single year. If the universe began on January 1st it was not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-cosmic-calendar-compresses-the-local-history-of-the-universe-into/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [We get to see it! January 1st, 2000! We get to see... all those fundamentalist preachers having to do their backpedaling when the Armageddon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cross/we-get-to-see-it-january-1st-2000-we-get-to-see-all-those/) [David Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cross/) > [In Chicago 3,000 people have been shot since January 1st. We're not going to let that happen. Our inner cities are almost at an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/in-chicago-3-000-people-have-been-shot-since-january-1st-we-re-not/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [Most people think of January 1st as the start of a new year. To people who espouse to Catholicism and Christianity, they might correlate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-harbaugh/most-people-think-of-january-1st-as-the-start-of-a-new-year-to-people/) [Jim Harbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-harbaugh/) > [You look at the inner cities and you see bad education, no jobs, no safety. You walk to the grocery store with your child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/you-look-at-the-inner-cities-and-you-see-bad-education-no-jobs-no/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) ## More by Ellen Goodman > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/age-is-an-accumulation-of-life-and-loss-adulthood-is-a-series-of/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [Once upon a time we were just plain people. But that was before we began having relationships with mechanical systems. Get involved with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/once-upon-a-time-we-were-just-plain-people-but-that-was-before-we/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [I think most of us become self-critical as soon as we become self-conscious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/i-think-most-of-us-become-self-critical-as-soon-as-we-become-self/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [I don't know exactly why the notion of homeownership has such a grasp on the American imagination. Perhaps as descendants of landless immigrants we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/i-don-t-know-exactly-why-the-notion-of-homeownership-has-such-a-grasp/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [The central paradox of motherhood is that while our children become the absolute center of our lives, they must also push us backout in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/the-central-paradox-of-motherhood-is-that-while-our-children-become/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [You can believe in women's rights without believing that every woman is right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/you-can-believe-in-women-s-rights-without-believing-that-every-woman/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [Maybe this year, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives not looking for flaws, but looking for potential.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/maybe-this-year-we-ought-to-walk-through-the-rooms-of-our-lives-not/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [The same people who tell us that smoking doesn't cause cancer are now telling us that advertising cigarettes doesn't cause smoking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/the-same-people-who-tell-us-that-smoking-doesn-t-cause-cancer-are-now/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [You can teach someone who cares to write columns, but you can’t teach someone who writes columns to care.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/you-can-teach-someone-who-cares-to-write-columns-but-you-can-t-teach/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [instant opinion is an oxymoron. You don't get real opinions in an instant. You get reactions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/instant-opinion-is-an-oxymoron-you-don-t-get-real-opinions-in-an/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [I would like to say we're at a point where global warming is impossible to deny. Let's just say that global warming deniers are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/i-would-like-to-say-we-re-at-a-point-where-global-warming-is/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [We owned what we learned back there; the experience and the growth are grafted into our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/we-owned-what-we-learned-back-there-the-experience-and-the-growth-are/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [We each have a litany of holiday rituals and everyday habits that we hold on to, and we often greet radical innovation with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/we-each-have-a-litany-of-holiday-rituals-and-everyday-habits-that-we/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [Those inevitable dreams where you can't get your column in, you know, and at first they were the Xerox telecopy, and then they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/those-inevitable-dreams-where-you-can-t-get-your-column-in-you-know/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [Saving time, it seems, has a primacy that's too rarely examined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/saving-time-it-seems-has-a-primacy-that-s-too-rarely-examined/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) [Explore all 99 Ellen Goodman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) ## More Balance quotes > [Balance suggests a perfect equilibrium. There is no such thing. That is a false expectation… There are going to be priorities and dimensions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denise-morrison/balance-suggests-a-perfect-equilibrium-there-is-no-such-thing-that-is/) [Denise Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denise-morrison/) > [The bones of my architecture are very much related to the structure, to the physical fact of how a building can stand up; it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/santiago-calatrava/the-bones-of-my-architecture-are-very-much-related-to-the-structure/) [Santiago Calatrava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/santiago-calatrava/) > [I can still function when I don't have that balance I crave. I had a tendency to be precious about acting, thinking of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-regan/i-can-still-function-when-i-don-t-have-that-balance-i-crave-i-had-a/) [Laura Regan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-regan/) > [she got a reputation for an easy smile and a sharp tongue, and using one to balance the other, she seemed friendly but distant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-allison/she-got-a-reputation-for-an-easy-smile-and-a-sharp-tongue-and-using/) [Dorothy Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-allison/) > [Life's unfairness is not irrevocable; we can help balance the scales for others, if not always for ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-h-humphrey/life-s-unfairness-is-not-irrevocable-we-can-help-balance-the-scales/) [Hubert H. Humphrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-h-humphrey/) > [“We don't need to strive towards balance, we rather need to work on the obstacles that are preventing the natural flow of balance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-a-alebraheem/we-don-t-need-to-strive-towards-balance-we-rather-need-to-work-on-the/) [A.A. Alebraheem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-a-alebraheem/) > [I think that kind of balance comes with the process of growing together as a band, the Little Dragon. We love to write, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukimi-nagano/i-think-that-kind-of-balance-comes-with-the-process-of-growing/) [Yukimi Nagano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukimi-nagano/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [At times of recession, running a budget deficit is highly desirable. Once the economy begins to recover, you have to balance the budget. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/at-times-of-recession-running-a-budget-deficit-is-highly-desirable/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [It's my intention to make something stand outside the realm of album art, but it also feels comfortable to me to be in it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dyer-baizley/it-s-my-intention-to-make-something-stand-outside-the-realm-of-album/) [John Dyer Baizley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dyer-baizley/) > [Once you've gotten your money in balance, you know how much you have to spend on things that are just fun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-warren/once-you-ve-gotten-your-money-in-balance-you-know-how-much-you-have/) [Elizabeth Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-warren/) > [I never understood how much running changes your life. I'm now obsessed. When not trying to beat my personal best, I'm talking to other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadiq-khan/i-never-understood-how-much-running-changes-your-life-i-m-now/) [Sadiq Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadiq-khan/) > [Whatever needed to be done, I need to know how to do it just as well as my wife. You know, for us to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-isbell/whatever-needed-to-be-done-i-need-to-know-how-to-do-it-just-as-well/) [Jason Isbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-isbell/) > [I don't think my parents would have let me go straight into acting full time when I was 12. I do like to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felicity-jones/i-don-t-think-my-parents-would-have-let-me-go-straight-into-acting/) [Felicity Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felicity-jones/) > [When it comes down to music, I have no balance. I am 100 percent. It is like full throttle. Five hundred miles an hour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yanni/when-it-comes-down-to-music-i-have-no-balance-i-am-100-percent-it-is/) [Yanni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yanni/) [Browse all 5,166 Balance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/balance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We spend January 1st walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. 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