New Year's Resolution

Lego games and Lego...best way to ring in the New Year

The New Year is coming! I love New Year's. It's my favourite holiday. I love the party, the dancing, the excitement, the fireworks, the silly hats, the champagne. I love it all. There is something powerful about a new beginning, and I'm glad for a holiday each year that signifies change; change for the better, new goals, new adventures.

But this year, I have resolved to not make any resolutions. I feel like I set myself up for failure that way. I jump onto the proverbial bandwagon for a few weeks, and fall right back off with a resounding thud. A couple years ago, on April Fool's, I decided I would stop biting my nails. Now, you have to understand, this was huge for me. I have bitten my nails until my fingers looking more like the stubby ends of amputated limbs my entire life. People had bothered me to stop for years, but I never listened. I had tried to resolve the issue on more than one New Year's. I would be good for a few weeks, and then realize "wait, I don't really want to do this. I just got lost in the New Year's spirit," and then I would quit. And then one fine April evening, I decided with all of me that I was done with it. Yes, I failed at it a couple times, once quite miserably, but I have beautiful, long, natural nails now and no desire to go back.

A New Year's resolution is a fine idea. Everyone has goals that they want to achieve. For some, it's weight loss. For others, it's spending more time with family. For me, it's to go to the gym/do hot yoga more (or at all, that would be a good start). But you have to want it, with all of you. It may seem like a novel idea to ring in the New Year with a lifestyle change. And maybe you have more discipline and self-control than I, who severely lacks discipline most days. But I have never seen someone succeed without wanting it badly. You need to be passionate about your life change, and about the end result in order to stick with it. Resolutions are great, except that they are work; a lot of work.

I learned that the hard way. I experienced a huge life change in the past four years. I faced the demons of my past with the help of some really key people, and am a changed woman because I stuck with it. But I wouldn't have if I didn't, with every fibre of my being, see a need to put that work in. And I wouldn't have stopped biting my nails if I didn't see the need for it. And I wouldn't have quit countless other bad habits if I didn't see the benefit of it in the end. I think what helped me the most is that I focused not on where I was (most of the time) but where I could be. It can seem utterly hopeless in the midst of trial, and we rarely are able to recognise our progress as we journey. But when you are able to look back and say "wow, I came from a hard place, and it was hard, but I made it and I am a better person now," it all becomes worth it.

-SP