Here we are a couple of weeks into the new year and our New Year’s Resolutions are often what we’re thinking about at this time. Some of you may still be doing great with them and for that, I applaud you. Many of us may have already let them fall by the wayside, which is also fine. Don’t beat yourself up about it, it’s a lot more moon than you think. In fact, the pressure of modern life and of all that’s currently going on, it’s actually really easy to not give a single care to our resolutions. In fact, the very act of making New Year’s Resolutions is surrounded by the question of wether they’re doomed to fail from the beginning. It almost seems as if the idea of making resolutions at this time of year is more about other peoples’ expectations or an obligation, like some sort of peer pressure sometimes, so no wonder so many of us fail at them if there’s a sense of duress in the back of our minds.
For some, the end of the festive season and the fresh start of a new calendar year is a fantastic excuse to focus. Health is often a common resolution, probably after all the fabulous over indulgence of Christmas and the general party-heavy season. As much as anything, it’s probably a way to alleviate the guilt for all the decadence. You know what though? Life’s so much easier if you knock guilt on the head. While it’s great to recognise what you need to do, there’s little point in actually making yourself feel bad about having a good time. Did you enjoy it while you were doing it? Then it served a purpose. Accept it and get on with it.
The thing I always find myself wondering though, I might not be alone on this, is that surely it’s better to keep bettering ourselves as and when we need to throughout the year rather than waiting for an excuse to make a token gesture. It’s possible that resolutions have just become a bandwagon that we hop on by making a token promise that we now we’ll probably break and that, in all likelihood, people will be too busy either achieving or breaking their own that they won’t notice if we drop ours. And what about the achievements we make without promising them in advance? They should be recognised too! If, on a whim, you start tidying the spare room that you’ve been putting off, it’s still an achievement, regardless of when you’ve done it or if you’ve made a resolution to. The fact is, you can make a resolution at any time with as much or as little notice as you want and it doesn’t detract from it. This goes for anything – You don’t need to wait for the symbolic ‘fresh start’ of New Year. In fact, without the added pressure, you’ll probably find it a little easier.
There’s a bottom line here: If you want to see change badly enough, you’ll find a way to make it happen and stop putting it off.
If you want to make a positive change in your life, you don’t need to wait for a milestone to get started – let the start of your positive action be that milestone. Without the pressure, you might find it’s easier to achieve what you want. If you stumble, don’t see that as the end of the road, see it as the brief stumble it is - and dust yourself off before carrying on.
On the bright side, the post New Year lockdown we’re all in means that there’s a little less pressure to stick to our plans. Ironically, I usually balk at the idea of ‘Dry January’, but I seem to have accidentally observed it this year! I don’t really drink at home, so being suck here, it hasn’t happened. So, I’ll gladly take that as an achievement. There, see? I have actually achieved something during lockdown! With regard to the other promises of generally healthy eating and the other raft of plans I had, I’ll have to get back to you on that, but hey, there’s time enough. For some, this extra time and confinement would give them the ability to focus, but for me, the urge to actually rest a little and sit about in my pants has been just too great. I’ve done the resting bit now and almost completely destroyed my sleeping pattern and now I’m all geared up to actually do something. That doesn’t mean I’m subscribing to the “New Year, New Me” bollocks, but simply doing some things I’ve been meaning to do – but for me. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m the sort of person who would rather dig their heels in and be stubborn if someone tries to force me into something, so you’d better believe any positive changes I make are for me.
So there you have it, if you can stick to your resolutions, that’s great – well done! But for those who either can’t, won’t or don’t want to, that’s fine too. You’re under no obligation to anyone but yourself. Keep doing you and when change is right, you’ll know. Other peoples’ expectations aren’t what your life is about. Their opinions of you are none of your business.
Have you made any resolutions this year? Have you had success or have they gone by the wayside? Let us know! In fact, half the battle is having allies, so share your opinions, gripes or success stories on here and you might find unexpected support or even reassurance that a slip up doesn’t really matter. Let’s build each other up!
Keep being fabulous and obviously safe, sane and… Vidalicious!
