Dear New Years Resolutions

Well, it’s that time of year again, which I’m sure is your favorite season as its the magical time of year when people bursting with confidence (and probably too much eggnog or other holiday beverages) make their grand pronouncements about how they are going to change their lives and become a more fabulous, sparkling version of themselves. I call it the “Resolution Bandwagon,” especially since so many people make these yearly declarations. Don’t take offense to this, but I’ve never been one to believe in this yearly ritual as I don’t get the logic of making a promise one will more than likely break. Suely you must be exhausted by this yearly ritual? Year after year people make the same pledge to you: “I’m going to be kinder! Thinner! Richer! More spiritual! Maybe even learn to juggle or play the piano. How often do these vows actually stick? I’m sure people mean well, but give it a month and most of them have ghosted you and are back to snacking and spending time binging their favorite TV shows. Doesn’t that drive you crazy? I’m just an innocent bystander here, but even I get a bit annoyed watching the annual “Resolution Dropout Games.” Don’t you ever just want grab people by the collar and yell in their face “What in the hell are you doing?” I wouldn’t hold it against you if you did. The reason I don’t jump on the bandwagon is because it’s all about intent, and I know myself enough to know that saving one day year to make a pledge to change myself is rather pointless; there are three hundred sixty-five days (well three hundred sixty-four days as one of those is the day to make the change) in a year to get myself on track, or in my case make mistake after mistake. No need to wait for January to roll around. For those that do make this annual yearly pledge, and break it, I often wonder what they do the rest of the year; are they just living a life of wild abandon—overeating, overspending, and hoarding ugly sweaters. I mean, I’m guilty too, (Especially of buying ugly sweaters, but sometimes that’s a necessity.) but at least I’m aware of my shenanigans. Here’s my theory on this whole resolution pledge thing: if one can’t keep a promise to themselves on the other three hundred sixty-four days of the year, what makes them think they are going to keep one they make on a random Tuesday, just because it happens to be New Year’s Day? Exactly, they aren’t going to be able to keep it. Let’s face it, promises are tough to keep, especially when the only one to hold a person accountable is themselves, hence the reason why so many people fail to keep the pledge to you and to themselves. To counter that, I believe in small, daily tweaks instead. It’s not the grand plan that others make, but baby steps toward an improved me is better than nothing at all. Maybe I’ll skip sugar today. Maybe I’ll resist the urge to side-eye my co-workers. (Even though this is a difficult one to make.) Maybe I’ll convince the voices in my head to use their inside voices. In time these small daily rituals will turn into a habit and then change doesn’t seem so impossible to achieve.

Sorry for the detour into my personal improvement saga, but hey, maybe you can recommend this to others? Just a thought.

Well, I do hope you see better results from people this year, if not, and you need a shoulder to cry on or someone to grab coffee with and discuss, I’m here for you.  

New Year Resolution denier