New Year’s Resolutions – Nay

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new-years-resolutions-nay-ccmbNew Year’s Resolutions — Nay.

Who was the founder of this silly, long-time tradition anyway? Probably some crazy, over-achiever, many moons ago, who thought it was a great idea to set some goals and stick to them.  For. A. Whole. Year.

Okay… in all seriousness… resolutions were adopted about 4,000 years ago by people who were making promises to the gods they believed in.  A google search will lead you to a bit of an explanation or you can check out this blog post describing The History of New Year’s Resolutions.

But modern day resolutions? The idea that we establish some accountability and share with everyone around us how we want to better ourselves in this way, or that way.  Because everyone knows if we have someone to be accountable to it helps us to accomplish the task we’ve set out to do.

Yea, right… Has anyone ever gotten to December 31st and said, ‘man, I nailed all my new years resolutions this year!  Badda bing, badda bang! Whoop!  Rocked it!!’

Uh, not me.  Ever.  

With that said, because I went year after year not having a completed resolution to hang my hat on, I now choose to not make them.  Yes.  You heard me.  New Year’s Resolutions? Nay!!

Like a lot of people, initially I thought they were a good thing.  Sorta fun.  Hence, I have made my share of them in my younger years.  As each year passed though, failed resolutions made me feel like, well, a failure.  Consequently, I stopped making them.

I prefer to approach each new year with an open mind.  And, I now choose to allow things to present themselves to me in a more natural way.  I no longer try to force those round shaped goals into square shaped pegs of completion.  

An example….I will always have five pounds to lose because that’s my lot in life.  I no longer make the five pounds the focus, but rather striving for a healthy lifestyle in general.  Besides, I have more than five pounds to lose, and I absolutely refuse to dwell on that reality any longer.  I will not spend precious time beating myself up over it anymore.

So what DO I do then?  

Well, I do not feel that turning the calendar over to a new year is the prerequisite to drawing a line in the sand and declaring that now is the time for making improvements.  

With the belief system I have in place in my life, this is something I strive to do always.  I look at each day as an opportunity to grow.  As a do-over, so-to-speak, to making a better decision today in all capacities of my life:

new-years-resolutions-nay-woman-ccmbIn my faith.  
In my marriage.
As a parent.  
As a grandparent.
In my role as homeschool momma to one.
As an employee at the church.
As the wife of a pastor.
In my various relationships with family and friends.

That is not an all-inclusive list.  There are many roles I must fill in my life and those roles change from day to day.

But I can’t wait until January 1st to decide to do better.  I must make an effort to do it now.  In this time and in this moment.

What do you say?  Yay or Nay to New Year’s Resolutions!  Let me know!  Maybe you can make a convert out of me!

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Pam
Pam is a city-girl gone country thanks to her best friend and husband of thirteen years, Johnny. Together, the couple has one son, Caleb {2005.} Pam has four adult children who have blessed her with seven precious grandchildren and the title of Meme’. As you can imagine, she has run the gamut in parenting! Pam has a barn full of chickens, rabbits, and donkeys. Some of her favorites are quality time with Jesus, learning to play golf to keep up with her husband and son, writing when time allows, and, of course, taking care of life on their small ranch. Except for snakes, scorpions, and spiders... her 'cup runneth over.'