Boss: All right, people. We need a smash hit, a film everyone will want to see as we head into the new year. Ideas?

Man: Got it.

Boss: Is it different from our Christmas-Hanukkah-Kwanzaa lineup?

Man 1: Absolutely. An extremely popular professional baseball player wants a break from the hectic multi-million-dollar lifestyle so he leaves the city a week before the championship game, goes to a small town where he’s sure no one knows him …

Woman: Meets the hot, single mom librarian who’s sick of relationships but wants a father for her little girl …

Man 2: So they reluctantly fall in love and breakup over some super obvious misunderstanding …

Woman: And get back together with a midnight kiss at the town’s annual New Year’s Eve party!

Man 1: Just in time for him to fly back and pitch the no-hitter big game!

Boss: Original. I like it.

Man 2: I have the perfect concept for a follow-up.

Boss: Go!

Man 2: An extremely popular professional football player wants a break …

Boss: No. It’s spring. And be more original.

Man 2: An extremely popular professional baseball player who is a catcher wants a break …

Boss: Perfect! I love it!

OK, I know I could make similar observations about popular action or horror movies, but this seemed more appropriate for the time.

There’s nothing wrong with being entertained by “predictable” stories and familiar genres.

But sometimes I think we get caught up in laziness to avoid productivity.

I get it. I’m tired. It’s early morning as I write this and my joints hurt, I have a headache that’s been going for days and I am looking forward to a nap, not that I’ll get one.

Doesn’t hurt to dream, I guess.

But we’re about to jump into a new year. All of our problems won’t disappear because the clock ticks us into 2021, but it’s a marker we use as a starting over point, a place to put a stake in the ground and say this is where 2020 ends.

Or put a stake in its heart.

I hope you go into the year with a good outlook and a promise to yourself that no matter what comes, you’ll face it confidently and positively and write a new story.

Even if it has familiar story lines.

God bless you and happy new year!

Brett Campbell can be reached at brett.campbell@dailyleader.com.