How are those New Year's resolutions coming along? It's nearly the end of January. Are you sticking to your resolutions, or are they already forgotten? How many of your resolutions have ever lasted past January? How many times have you continued to make the same resolutions year after year, only to find yourself at the end of the year doing the same thing yet again? Do you even bother with making resolutions anymore? Or, have you finally resigned yourself to the fact that there's really no use?
I think I know why so many New Year's resolutions get dropped so quickly, at least for us folks in the northern hemisphere of the globe. It's really very simple: We make these resolutions in the dead of winter. When the weather is at it's very gloomiest and everything in nature is dormant, we make these commitments to improving ourselves and our lives during the new year. We're all geared up to exercise more, lose weight, stay on a healthy diet, learn something new, complete some projects we've been putting off, maybe even start a new career. Knowing the way we humans are inevitably affected by our surroundings, is it any wonder these resolutions usually never last the first month of the year?
Maybe it's time we changed the tradition just a little. Sure, we can still use New Year's Eve to have a great party because it is the start of a new year, but let's save the resolutions for spring! When the sun is warming the ground and the grass is turning green, new leaves are beginning on the trees, the birds are singing and the world just looks a little brighter, it seems like that would be the perfect time to focus on new ways to improve our lives, doesn't it? Not to mention, it could be a whole new excuse for celebrating every year!
Yep, as you may have guessed, I'm one of those people whose resolutions usually don't last through the first week of the year and this year I didn't even bother to disappoint myself! Well, at least not yet; I'm waiting for spring to arrive!
