Saturday, January 7, 2017

New Year Resolutions


New Year Resolutions

 
            The New Year is at the gate, the clock is ticking loud and clear
            I’ll need to hurry if I’m to keep the resolutions I made last year!  Anonymous

             Ever wonder where the whole idea of New Year resolutions came from? It seems we can blame—that is—attribute to the Babylonians the idea of assessing the past and resolving to improve in the new year. It caught on, obviously, and has continued to this day.

            Of course, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to improve oneself; I’ve tried it many times. In fact, the top three resolutions in America fit well into my list for the New Year as they have for several new years in the past – to spend more time with family and friends, to lose weight and to get fit. I’ve observed, however, that most of the time spent with family and friends is centered around food. Thus, the most exercise I get is the walk to the table and the elbow bend to the mouth. A little counter-productive to be sure—while striving to fulfill the first resolution, I jeopardize the other two! 

            Some slackers might say “you can’t break what you don’t make”. But for those who regard this earth as a garden in which we live, turning over a new leaf couldn’t hurt.  The problem is that producing new leaves takes time, and in a culture that has grown to accept and expect instant gratification, resolutions requiring patience and commitment are thrown aside. Texting and Facetime have replaced the one-on-one contacts and we are barraged with offers for quick weight-loss programs. We want resolutions and we want them now!

Perhaps the wisest approach to making any changes in our lives is to consider resolutions we might be able to keep for a “New Day” or even a “New Hour”, rather than taking on a whole year to try to achieve them. Success comes in small steps even for making the long run.

So, what about making some resolutions this New Year’s? I plan to carefully consider what I decide about them, so that my they will not go in one year and out the other.

 

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