We make these New Year resolutions each year. Some say they never do, but deep in the back of our minds it just seems to be human nature that we see each turn of the year as a chance to turn over a new leaf or two or three. We think back on the year and Wow what a couple of years to think back on lately. There is plenty to reflect upon. We do this and make certain decisions to change for the better.
I couldn't help but post the two ladies drinking coffee and one says, "I'm going to resolve to stop putting my foot in my mouth all the time." And then she says, "I bet your resolution is to lose weight."
Last year that was one of my resolutions and I didn't need a lady on the other side of a coffee table to tell me so. It was well overdue and in all honesty it was just one of a huge list of things I needed to trim up, organize, clean out, and create in the New Year.
A friend of mine sent me a picture of a list she had created back in 2011 that she came across a few weeks ago that addressed her resolutions for that year. Her list read:
Conquer Clutter - Streamline Organize - Less Procrastination - Set Goals - Plan - Make Lists - Throw out - Goodwill - Sell
Weight and Health - Walk More - Use Gym - Make Exercise a Priority - Make Better Choices at Grocery - Shopping List First - Yoga at night before bed
Finish Projects before Starting New Ones - Spend More Time with Family - Organize Pictures - Separate Scrapbook Topics - Make Homemade Gifts - Ornaments - Ceramic Platters - Hall's Hardware.
Now, knowing this dear friend she still works on all of the above over ten years ago, and I do as well right along beside her. She says she has no idea why she put down Hall's Hardware but there was something she had planned. I had to laugh reading it because it isn't even a hardware store anymore, so I hope she got what she needed.
When you are sitting home in quarantine with the Covid Crud, one does think quite extensively on the many things they would like to change in the upcoming year. Or maybe it isn't so much change but enhance. We are constantly working on ourselves. We struggle to be better people with our health, friendships, clutter, and living life to the fullest. It isn't always just losing weight but feeling healthier. In the world we live in today healthy has taken on a whole new perspective.
We can even pull out the old handy dandy cell phone and click an icon and after a matter of seconds likely scanning all of our personal information, we are not meaning to share, a site will pop up with a great little resolution for us. After probably stealing my identity my phone said my New Year's Resolution was "To spend more time making memoires with people who matter most in my life." Now, you can't really go wrong with that one. I will be making new memories with all those friends who are making lists like the one above right by my side.
Do New Year's resolutions really work? People say they don't. People say they never make them. Some people even begin with good intentions, but January 1st is big sweater weather. It is easy to dig back into the ice cream and stay up later than your resolution planned.
For me, I will continue to make them, and my list will be long like my friend's list. Most of the things on my list will not even be written on paper. They will be passing thoughts while I'm driving down the road or walking with my dog. I will think, "I'm really going to work on making more time for my friends." Or "I'm really going to work on writing more, doing Yoga before bed, cleaning out the clutter, and enjoying the simple things." And some days I will do these things and other days I will not. But the most important thing about New Year's Resolutions is that we resolve to continue to work on being better and not getting stagnant. Here's to 2022!
