Most people try to make resolutions on January 1st. I am not a fan of the practice. I used to be like “most people”, and unfortunately that means that I was really like most people and broke the resolutions almost as easily as I made them.
So now, I resolve to not resolve. If I happen to break that resolution...
I’ve been thinking a lot about New Year’s resolutions, about why people make them, why they break them, and why pick January 1st. I *get* that people choose January 1st to start a new better way of living because we are starting a new calendar, a new and untarnished year, but, consider the following:
A new year does not have to start on January 1st.
We start a new year of life on whatever day of the (calendar) year we were born. For me that would be September 16th. I could start better habits that day. Then there are other cultural new years. We just had the Chinese New Year. (It’s now the Year of the Dragon…in case you hadn’t heard.) Many religions honor a new year on different days. Schools use a different year. Remember? Start in late summer and get off again in early summer.
You can start your “new better way of living” year any day you want to. You can start today. You can start tomorrow. You can start next week and again next month. You can start every day.
Why not start every day with a new resolve, rather than every year with a new resolution.
How many people say “I’ll do *something* someday”? (Fill in that blank with whatever *something* is for you.) What if you keep saying that? Day after day, year after year…We only get so many days in a lifetime. Maybe it’s time to stop talking about doing *something someday* and start DOING it. If it’s something that you need to make preparations for (save money, learn a skill, etc.) then start making those preparations. Put aside some money. Learn that skill. Gather materials.
Live your life. Don’t wait for the elusive “someday”. Someday is now.
