A Time for Resolutions

Summary

The website content discusses the author's personal journey with making and attempting to keep resolutions throughout the year, not just at New Year's.

Abstract

The author reflects on the tradition of making resolutions, tracing its origins back to the Babylonians, who aimed to start the new year with a clean slate. While acknowledging consistent failure to achieve these goals, the author remains undeterred, viewing resolutions as a path to self-improvement. The changing seasons serve as natural prompts for revisiting and recommitting to resolutions, with spring symbolizing rebirth and a renewed focus on health and personal development goals. The excitement of starting a new school year in September also provides motivation to pursue these promises. The author's resolutions adapt as personal needs change over time, emphasizing the importance of resolutions in shaping habits and personal growth.

Opinions

The author admires the concept of self-improvement through resolutions since childhood.
Despite past failures, the author maintains a positive outlook on the potential of resolutions to lead to personal betterment.
The author finds spring, with its signs of natural rebirth, to be a particularly inspiring time to renew commitments to health and personal goals.
The author views the start of a new school year as an opportune time to re-engage with resolutions and learn new things.
The author acknowledges the cyclical nature of their efforts, with some goals, like learning conversational Farsi, remaining elusive.
The author believes that resolutions are an intrinsic part of their personality and will continue to evolve and persist regardless of challenges.

A Time for Resolutions

They’re not just for New Year’s Day anymore.

I want to be a better person. I want to lose weight, exercise more, write 1,000 words a day, become a gourmet cook and read two books a week. When I finally do all of this, I expect to be an awesome person. Traditionally, New Year’s Day is the ideal time to start resolving to begin this journey to perfection. The concept started over 4,000 years ago with the Babylonians. The intent being to return anything they had borrowed and to pay off outstanding debts. Starting the new year with a clean slate has been a goal to aspire to for a long time. I have admired the whole “make yourself a better person” concept since I was a child. My resolutions have been both traditional ones (start and stick with an exercise program) and unique (learn conversational Farsi in case it ever comes in handy). Like the vast majority of resolution makers, I have fallen short (far short!) of my goals on a consistent basis. (But, really, I have good intentions!) That doesn’t deter me in the least. I may fall short, but I have yet to give up. In fact, I am so into the idea of improving myself through regular resolutions that I have taken myself beyond the stage of New Year’s resolutions.

Spring, A Time of Rebirth and New Beginnings For those of us who live in a climate with clearly differentiated seasons, spring is a time for rebirth. Crocuses and daffodils are usually the first bursts of color to poke their determined heads out of the previously frozen earth in my garden. I figure, if these delicate plants can start fresh every year, so can I. My resolutions in the spring are every bit as strong as those made on January 1st. Exercise resolutions made at this time year usually involve outdoor activities. After being closed in for several frigid months of winter, I put on my walking shoes and start tracking my miles on my fitness tracker. I have goals to reach! (This is actually one of the few goals I have even the remotest hope of achieving). I like to recommit to the resolutions I made three months ago that slipped through my fingers. Any effort is better than no effort. And being reminded of what I think I want to accomplish in life goes a long way to helping form the habits that may one day make the goals a reality. As I step on the scale and realize I have made absolutely no progress in that direction, I get back to my food journal and my resolve to cook at home more and eat out less. (A mega challenge in my hectic life). Springtime inspires me, temporarily at least, to write more and read more. I’m excited about the world again and I want/need to express my thoughts. Springtime resolutions are a great spring board for me to finally become the exceptional person I know is hiding deep inside. And then along comes the lazy days of summer . . . Sigh — Another detour in the road to progress.

Take Me to School Do you remember your childhood days when summer would draw to a close and the thrill of starting a new school year beckoned? Could there be a better time to reacquaint myself with my resolutions? I don’t think so. I always figured if I was going to learn new things and study new subjects, why not build on this time as an opportunity to “make myself a better person” through following up on my resolutions. Yeah! I am always right back at it when September rolls around. I just dust off those same old promises to myself and try again. To be honest, the conversational Farsi goal hasn’t gotten off the ground yet. My weight hasn’t changed and my exercise routine (yes, it really does exist) is simply that — routine. (I need to resolve to push harder in that direction). My reading/writing goals ebb and flow like the tide. But, like the tide, they always return to shore.

I Resolve to do Better Assorted other resolutions find their way into my world from time to time. As I age, my wants and needs change — so, too, should my resolutions. The resolutions may change — but they will never go away. They can’t. I won’t let them. They are too much a part of my personality.