I resolve to write more stimulating articles.
That’s one of my many New Year’s resolutions. Obviously, I’m continuing to keep that one. But what about the resolutions we don’t keep? Are we going to be forever banished to resolution Hades for not keeping our holy word? Probably not.
But I realized after breaking one of my sacred oaths two days after the first of January that resolutions are made with the knowledge that they will be broken. Why’s this? Well, I think I know.
I made several resolutions for 2005. Some I made for real, most I made to break. Here’s my reasoning. I have always known that resolutions are mostly garbage, destined to be regretted the moment the new year gets here.
So in an effort to stick to my guns I added some resolutions to my list that would never come to fruition. I thought that by breaking a few already, I might guilt myself into keeping some.
I resolved to stop over-thinking situations as well. Guess we all know that one didn’t last.
And then I started thinking about the reasoning behind these resolutions. Do they make me feel better? No. Do they serve any purpose other than making me feel like I’m a good person for the last week of December? Not in the least. Am I a sad person by trying to cheat the odds and add doomed resolutions to my list? I am almost certain of it.
See, we resolve to make big changes in our lives, to change things that we don’t like about ourselves. We want to improve, to be better, faster and stronger. But maybe that’s the problem.
Instead of me nitpicking and searching for things I hate about myself, maybe my one resolution should be to be happy with who I am. Maybe we should learn to accept ourselves.
Yeah, I’ll put that on my list for next year.
Really there is nothing wrong with wanting to change things about ourselves. We all have bad habits that can go. Besides, change is inevitable.
In case you missed it, I’m not against resolutions. I believe with will power and the idea we can become better people, resolutions are incredibly helpful. With that in mind, I came up with a new list of New Month resolutions that I’m going to keep come this February. I can’t be bothered with a year of changes, so instead I’ll take it slow and try to stick with them for a month.
1. I resolve not to be bitter about Valentine’s Day, nor to secretly have ill will toward any of my happily coupled friends.
2. I resolve to go to class, study and make my last semester one where I am actually a student.
3. I resolve to stop quoting “Napoleon Dynamite” to those who, for whatever ungodly reason, hate the movie.
4. I resolve to travel more this year and not to count trips home as one of those road trips.
5. I resolve to talk less on my phone, more to my mother and not at all in class.
6. I resolve to erase my Thefacebook account and never waste another three hours in one sitting on such contraptions.
7. I resolve to work smarter, not harder. (Hey, it sounds cool.)
8. I resolve to help the needy and unfortunate, a.k.a. Ole Miss students.
9. I resolve to travel to Australia, find Kylie Minogue and ask her to do that dance from the ’80s. And if you don’t know the Locomotion, well, I pity you.
10. I resolve to be mindful of others. respectful of others, accepting of others and more sarcastic and self-righteous than others.
Yeah, No. 10 won’t be that hard. I’m so already there.
So OK, the last two were far-fetched. I’m counting on those to be my fake ones. But the other eight, I am so going to do those.Well, at least try to keep most.
On the other hand, four out of 10 isn’t bad at all.