We make them and we break them – seems to be the universal pattern, but let’s give ourselves at least an Afor effort (in the USA, an Ais equivalent to a top grade academically or a 4.0 – so now you know).
New Year Resolutions are as old as the birth of Homo sapiens (as in early man, woman, child, small dogs and bunnies named Fluffy). Though I wasn’t around at the time, I can only trust that we have always had this urge to do better, keep moving forward and Improve ourselves. That’s why we have sliced bread, cell-phones and flushing toilets. For the most part we let other Homo sapiens do the heavy lifting, though most of us normal sapiens are involved in that process constantly, one way or another; and we are good at it. But one thing we all do before a new year begins, is getting a list together concerning how we would like to improve our own lives, make things better and enhance the world around us the next twelve months; and that is so cool - don’t you think?
Options are that we can announce our resolutions to everybody, which is really stupid as ‘does accountabilityring a bell?’ We can write them on a secret piece of paper, carve them in stone, as Moses did or keep them stored between our ears, risk-free. Whichever way, we all participate on some level or another; yes, even you.
Resolutions (the act to solve or to determine) are simply made to improve ourselves, and that is where it all starts. Because the better we feel about ourselves, the better we get along with people (and some pets) around us. Feeling good about ourselves first, makes the proverbial ball roll in the right direction.
The annual New Year Resolution is the Mother of All Resolutions. It’s where we aim big, and way big for the most part: I will lose 164 pounds (and I need it), build a new 2 story summer-residence using only home-baked rolls, learn six Chinese dialects and find the true cure for hiccups. Even extreme effort is not going to help you with that list, but I’ll still respect you for trying – I really will.
Under the Mother of All Resolutions we could set lesser goals, lower the bar to reach more success and I can swing with that. But how about this: instead of just one huge unattainable “gee, I-really-want-to” challenge, why don’t we just split this resolution thing up in 365 equal parts? That’s pretty much one teeny weeny mini resolution every day for a year, but it all adds up… seriously.
You might want to make the legendary beauty pageant wish PEACE ON EARTH your main focus. This wish is always expressed with the naïve hope that it might actually happen (yeah, good luck with that); Peace on Earth sounds like a Piece of Cake to accomplish. But a solution to make this resolution come true is actually right in front of us, because peace on this Earth starts with you and me. When we have peace within ourselves, it will spread to our spouses, children, family, bunnies named Fluffy, neighbors, the tax-collector and then one day we finally reach peace on Earth– you see? Actually a piece of cake and we should do our best to make it happen; are you going to join me on this journey? But realistically, mini resolutions are the answer.
Give yourself a few minutes in the morning to make sure that you have planned something to improve your day, to improve yourself and the everyday world around you. Are you going to improve the foundation of your future, your happiness, whatever it is you are seeking (as long as it doesn't involve the judicial system, the police, the FBI or an angry and disappointed mother screaming at you). In the evening you take a few minutes to go over what you did that day and especially think how the effort made you feel. Daily resolutions are the way to succeed as you are reaching immediate goals, which will give you an instantaneous satisfaction as well as it is a lot easier to make adjustments daily than annually.
Last year I called my resolutions: The Ten Demandments of Peter. No, gentle reader this is personal stuff, so there. But I can at least share the addendum with you: BE HAPPIER & BE NICER. That is not to say that I’m not happy or that I’m a crappy person to be around, it’s just a reminder that no matter how happy or how nice I am, I can always do better – we all can.
New Year Resolutions are great, they really are. The reason is that we have determined to improve, whatever that improvement involves. We are stating that we can actually do better and that admission in itself is golden; makes you feel all good, giggly and fluffy inside, doesn’t it?
Some resolutions die fast: Cut down on alcohol, swearing and don’t eat so much, falter around 4:30 PM January 1, but we still get an A for effort. Okay a bit extreme, but not far from the truth, huh? So we hopefully learn to set goals we can and want to reach, we put in an extra effort that soon becomes no effort at all – and then we will succeed. The more we strive to succeed, the easier it gets, and by December 31, 365 days later, we realize that we did improve our lives, we did move forward. If that was just a few small steps or the whole 164 pounds of weight loss we aimed for (and good luck that), whatever big or small improvement, you are adding up the successes and then you are ready to do it again.
Peace on Earth would be heaven, really; the cure for cancer likewise and the list is long. To make it all happen, consider how important those New Year Resolutions are, not just for you, but for the world around you. When we all do our share, who knows what will happen? And don’t fret about not fully living up to all your resolutions, remember instead that you did try your best and that in itself is a huge A for effort – seriously. After all we are only Homo sapiens.
A VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS
2016
TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES
And so many thanks for reading
