New Year’s Resolutions: Are you in or Out?
I figure that everybody in the entire world fits into 1 of 4 categories on the subject of New Year’s Resolutions:
1) “Yes, I make them every year and vow to stick to them!”
2) “Yes, I make them every year, and vow to stick to them, knowing that they probably will be nowhere to be found when the groundhog comes looking for his shadow.
3) “No, I don’t make them. It’s not my thing. And I know I won’t stick to them so what’s the point?”
4) “No, I don’t make them. I don’t know why anyone does. January 1st is just another day.”
Personally, okay, you can think I’m a huge sucker if you want to… but I believe in New Year’s Resolutions…. and I think everyone should.
Forget what you actually write down for a second. For now, let’s just say that it doesn’t matter what you write: (“What kind of an idiotic remark is that? So, I can write my shopping list— Bread, milk, butter, eggs — and I’m set for 2023?”. Hey, I’m going to have a great year! And lots of French toast!”)
What I mean is that there is a great benefit to just sitting down and creating this list. You know how when you work on a big project everyone advises you to break it up into smaller parts so it won’t feel so overwhelming? (Because you never heard that before and couldn’t have come up with that idea on your own.) This list serves that same purpose. The simple act of sitting down, taking out a pen and piece of paper, or jotting notes on a tablet or phone:
1) Prepares us to shut the door on the old year and look hopefully toward the future
2) Gives us a sense of a huge opportunity for do-overs, clean slates, mulligans, and fresh starts
Okay, you cynics. If you’re thinking— “false sense of…” or “sets you up for…” or “unrealistic…”. What if we don’t jump ahead? In coming bloglets, we’ll get into the nitty-gritties of “the list” but for now, what if we just take out that paper, tablet, or phone, jot down a short, simple list… not a long, complicated, mess with roman numerals, A,B,C’s and 1, 2, 3’s. but maybe just 5 or fewer simple jots. What if, for just a moment, we permit ourselves to revel in that creaking door closing on 2022—no matter what kind of a year it was for you— and the cool, gentle breeze of possibility flowing through the 2023 window that’s cracking open?
