5, 4, 3, 2…HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2011 will be ringing in before we know it. Most of us will be at an overpriced gathering wearing something glitzy that sparkles and shines. Some of us will choose a quiet night with loved ones. Others will be a drunken mess at a house party. In any case, we all find our own way to ring in the next 365 days.
As your taking a bite at every food station pretending to be Sam Sifton, your stomach is yelling, “Enjoy this you glutton…it’s the last night you can stuff your face!” Well, because you know tomorrow you’ll be starting your first day of dieting for the long dreaded year ahead, or really for the long dreaded month ahead.
You won’t make it a year or longer than a month. You will join the gym if you aren’t already a member of the “Sweat it out and go home and stuff it back in club.” And, if you are a member already, you will decide it’s time to head back because you’ve been lazy all year long. The faces at the desk won’t recognize you or your new workout gear. For the past year your membership has only helped the owners of the gym pay their rent.
Don’t re-up your frozen status; just let your brain and all its thoughts thaw out for a moment. Ask yourself if you really want to do this, AGAIN? Year after year it’s the same pattern. And, that pattern is simply boring and worthless.
If you are a regular gym rat than you will notice every January 2nd the gym is packed. There are many hopeful contestants, but most of them are cut or quit before they even wear their free t-shirt awarded with their new membership.
I’m not knocking these people (even though they make the gym overly crowded for a good month). I am simply stating what I have been witnessing over many years.
People, the fact is New Year’s resolutions suck and so does exercise, and losing weight!
While you are sitting on your couch covered by your warm, soft fuzzy blanket this winter choosing a habit to break or begin…choose wisely.
Find one that you know you can absolutely stick to or one that will last for more than a month.
I must tell you that it should not be diet related. Dieting resolutions are just another advertising ploy to make big business big money. It’s like Valentine’s Day for Hallmark. It makes everyone money and doesn’t mean a hell of a lot.
January 1st should not be the reason you want to shed the pounds. It should mean nothing to you other than changing your calendars and your year on your checks.
It’s all pointless bullshit to make you think you need a BIG CHANGE in your new year to make you love yourself more or be happier.
Don’t give into the hype.
My End of the Year Resolution is to NOT have a New Year’s resolution at all, ever again.
January marks the new year on our calendars but any and everyday marks a new year. Today is December 2nd 2010 and December 2nd 2011 will make a year. And, if it were March 20th 2010, you can bet on the sun and moon and it’s position 365 days later, the next March 20th will be a whole year later.
Stop setting your new improved habits by the Egyptians, Romans, Mayans, Greeks, or Chinese calendars and their time. Set it by yours.
Do it when you mean it and when you really know you are ready.
I am deciding on this last month of the year that I should read two books a month. It will help my mind and my soul. It can only make me smarter. It won’t help me get into a size two, but it will help fill my mind. And, by next December 2nd, a whole year later, I should be twenty-four books the wiser (That’s big for me).
So, my “Right Now Resolution” is to absolve the idea of giving up anything ever again. For now on it will only be the addition of great things and the bad things will fade away when I say so, not when it strikes midnight on the clock. Nobody dictates to me what I should do and when I should do it.
Happy End of the Year and I hope you choose wisely and make it a year of self improvement whenever you wish to begin.
