So you’re standing in a room surrounded by several of your friends, drink in hand, and grinning from ear to ear. Perhaps you’ve taken in some fireworks, or even had a special New Year’s kiss. There is something about the atmosphere on New Year’s Eve that inspires hope, and many decide to make resolutions to make themselves better people. The “New Year, New Me” Facebook statuses start rolling in, along with emphatic goals that are broadcasted to the world: “I’m going to lose ten pounds!” or “I’m really going to start being on time for things,” or “This year, I will eat healthier and exercise more!”
While admirable in theory, this tradition really results in shallow resolutions for which people quickly lose motivation. Most goals I see people set in order to “better” themselves are superficial, usually focused on improving physical appearance. Accordingly, the number of people who actually keep their resolution beyond the first couple weeks into January is pretty close to zilch. A year is a long time to work on a goal and one that is associated with shallow crap isn’t going to cut it. This is precisely what makes New Year’s resolutions so meh…they are made in naive hope and are then quickly forgotten.
Why does this resolve to change only come around during New Year’s anyway? Shouldn’t we strive to be our best every day of the year? To live while we’re dying, and, as Oprah says, to live our best life? Why do we settle for creating clichéd goals that are based on wispy fantasies of what we want to achieve but are too lazy to pursue?
Resolutions in themselves are completely unnecessary. For the people who make them and say, “new year, new me,” I say, well of course! So much can change in a year — you’ll be meeting new people, visiting new places, having new experiences. Most of this newness is unplanned and spontaneous — much like life in general.
Improving oneself is a combination of conscious decision and a subconscious response to the events that have taken place in one’s life. Learning from whatever life throws at you is the best way to become a better person.
The only resolution that should be made is to resolve to have the best year possible by riding through life’s ups and downs. That’s truly the best way to ring in the year.
