New Year’s Resolutions Are a Myth
Just a fairy tale for adults.
Keeping New Year’s resolutions is a fairy tale. An adult fairy tale, but still a fairy tale, and nobody lives happily ever after.
They’re supposed to improve our lives and start the year all shiny and new.
Not only that but we’re supposed to share them with a buddy who’s going to make us accountable so that we don’t screw up.
I don’t know who came up with that brilliant idea, but they either have the most forgiving best friend in the world or one that just doesn’t give a damn.
I’m still trying to make amends for last year. When I asked my bestie to be my accountability buddy, I didn’t totally explain that I wanted to master the art of composting. I’d also forgotten that she hates bugs. A lot. She really hates bugs.
And why do it at the New Year? Most of us are probably staggering into January with baggage that didn’t come from Louis Vuitton. It’s been added to, dragged around, and beaten up on over the last year or sometimes our whole lives.
The New Year symbolizes fresh starts and new beginnings. If you’re still trying to figure out what went wrong last year, how it went so badly, and how to improve it this year, throwing in a new collection of stuff to do isn’t destined to make the year start well.
Do resolutions benefit or harm the resolutioners? In the euphoria of a brand new year, people set unreasonable expectations that inevitably lead to failure instead of setting a reasonable goal that will give them a feeling of accomplishment.
Is it even reasonable to set goals for a whole year? Life periodically smacks us in the face, and circumstances change. Suddenly, the goal is totally out of sight. It’s not even on the radar anymore.
Wouldn’t setting goals in smaller, easier-to-manage increments be more reasonable? If I were a resolution-making person, I would envision my list to look like this:
- Get ten more minutes of exercise a day. (The cats will love the extra playtime.)
- Write one more article a week, and not just in your head. (At least get the idea down. Serviettes in fast food restaurants are ideal for jotting down ideas.)
- Read more books from your TBR list than you put on it each week. (A little levity here.)
- Catch up on the filing once a month. (Do they have apprentices for filing? This could turn into someone’s learning opportunity.)
- Start learning a new language, and get past, “Where are the restrooms, please.”
This list-making business could continue forever, but that’s the general idea.
Of course, if you have serious goals like training for the Iditarod while living in Death Valley, writing a best-selling novel set in the dystopian universe of stink bugs, or finding a previously undiscovered heirloom tomato, you wouldn’t be reading this anyway.
People get carried away with making resolutions and lists, and I’m sure it’s hazardous to their health. I appreciate that this is a way to stay organized and monitor progress, but sometimes it goes too far. It takes on a life of its own.
I’ve seen people who actually keep their New Year’s resolutions and then panic when they realize they’re out of resolutions and there’s still part of the year left. What will they find to motivate themselves for the rest of the year? How will they deal with the failure of having inadequately planned enough resolutions for the year?
And then there are those whose New Year’s resolutions morph into their bullet journals and overtake their everyday lives. But…that’s a pathology for another day.
Just a last word about the whole New Year’s Resolution thing. Why can’t we do it on a day that isn’t already burdened by too many things? Why not July 27, for example? That’s National Cowboy Day. I can already see the start of the resolutions:
- Replace my old cowboy boots.
- Get my hat blocked and steamed.
- Buy a new saddle blanket…..
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