Iâm a big believer in New Yearâs Resolutions. Having said that, I hadnât really thought of any. Sure, thereâs the resolutions that could be carried over from last yearsâall that diet and exercise stuffâbut nothing new.
At this time of year, I feel self-conscious about running. Tomorrow morning will the the worst. The sidewalks and pavements are always packed with runners on the first of Jan. Since my long career in running has not done much to reduce my weight (imagine if I didnât run!), I always look like a novice when Iâm out there. I look like a New Yearâs runner. But still, thereâs nothing wrong with being someone out on a run because they made a resolution. Good for them! They probably feel self-conscious too, but they do it anyway.
This time of year, if you talk about resolutions, 3 or 4 people say the same thing– âMy resolution this year is to not make any resolutions!â Hah! Getâs me every time! How clever.
The problem I always had with resolutions is that I fear being mocked if I donât carry them out. I felt the same way when I started running or earlier this year when I started going to the gym. I felt that if I start, I could never stop because that would be failure somehow.
If I go for a run on 1 January, for example, I feel as if I have to run every day after that. If I start going to the gym, I need to go for years. But the truth is, this kind of fear stopped me from doing lots of things. If I go to the gym once, itâs one time more than never going. If I see it as something I need to do today rather than a commitment to something for the rest of my life, it makes it much easier to handle.
My most famous resolution with my family is the time I decided I would become a vegetarian. It lasted 7 days. But that burger on January 7th was fantastic!
My parents quick smoking on New Years when I was a kid. They never took it up again. Resolutions are not always broken.
Thereâs nothing magical about a New Yearâs resolutionâit just gives you an excuse to make a goal. An itâs easier to tell people how long youâve been keeping it up.
Iâll spend today thinking of a good resolution. It seems a waste of a calendar change if I canât come up with one.
Happy New Year and I wish you a wonderful 2010.
May you have the best year of your life so far in 2010! By the way, the only one who would mock you for not completing your NY resolution would be you, or your inner critic. The rest of us are trying to figure out how to meet our goals too. 😉
I completely agree with Ursula. Its your inner self conscious which pricks more than others. BTW.. I too make make resolutions and not complete all of them. I agree to you that making it a commitment is the fear which stops us.
I think the other way of doing this is making monthly commitments. You can track your progress and its not a compulsion for the entire year. Just 1 month at a time.