Forget about these streamers, where is our tuna?
The New Year is a big deal for most. It’s a time when we pull out our new calendar and start “over.” We see this as a turning of a page or year, a bright blank slate to start again. We get all excited and accept that this will be the year we make all the changes in the world.
The cat is looking at you with old confetti in your hair from last night… thinking here we go again.
So, here are five reasons you should should say “NO” to New Year resolutions.
Januray 1st wasn’t always a new year and for many cultures it still isn’t. The calendar we use is the Gregorian calendar which was created in 1500’s and the reason… religion. It was to change the date of Easter. Before the Gregorian calendar the New Year was March 25, Lady Day or close to the Spring Equinox. Regardless of how our forefathers changed our time line of dates, the calendar in general creates a mindset of linear thinking; that we “flip” the page as we turn over the year and begin again.
The idea of a date on the “opposite” side gives the impression that it is somewhat different, far away. We get all nostalgic about this “New Year.” It becomes the new unknown, a place in the far future, even if it is tomorrow.
Our internal clock is a cycle, that turns gently around our proverbial wheel of life. It is constant, changing from day to day ever so slightly.
5 reasons not to make a resolution..
- Making a resolution puts a time limit on our success and or our failures. In reality, the upcoming year is just another tomorrow and all we really have is today.
- Resolutions are usually too broad and usually the ones you don’t want to tackle. So we save it for the “new year.” Not wise to make a date that is reflective as a “beginning” or “new” into a dreaded thing that we use to deal with old issues.
- Many New Year Resolutions are sometimes done out of guilt or as something we are expected to do. We try to come up with a better resolution then our friends and family even if we not mentally prepared for it. When we fail we then have to account to others for why.
- New Year’s resolutions create a black/white idea of getting it done. It can do more harm than good.
- When it comes to New Year’s resolution, 25% of those who make resolution quit in the first 2 weeks, only about 8-10% actually keep them.
This time, I agree with Grumpy!!
“What the New Year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the New Year.”
― Vern McLellan
If you really want to resolve your life…
- It is really is less about the date and more about the mindset and being ready for change. Create a plan when your mind is ready, not when the calendar says so. If you want to connect to family, do it around the holidays when you are seeing them more often. If you’re looking to lose weight, start the plan in the spring or a time when you know you can get motivated to exercise. Want to save money? Perhaps tax time will help as you may get a few extra dollars.
- If you are going to create goals or resolution, make them small and realistic, with less expectation on resolving and more on understanding.
- Honor the day based on the name of January. January is named after the two-faced Roman God Janus. He is looking forward and backwards at the same time; therefore he is basically between time; present in the now. If you are going to honor this day, then reflect backwards on what you have been grateful for over the past year and what you are going to be grateful for this upcoming year. What are you grateful for now?
- Celebrate your resolution on a day to day basis. What are you not going to accept or release today or tomorrow. Change what you want right now, not tomorrow. Worry about tomorrow’s change tomorrow.
- Light a pretty candle and just stare at it. Connect with it as if it is your own inner light; perfect as it is.
- The BEST resolution to make is to resolve not to make one.
It is time for no resolutions or regrets, just reminders of gratitude.
Happy New Year!
Peace, Hugs and Purrs!
KT