Day 2. You Say You Want a Resolution

"So this is the New Year,
and I have no resolutions,
for self-assigned penance,
for problems with easy solutions."
-Death Cab for Cutie, "The New Year"

Today's writing prompt concerns New Year's resolutions. Easy enough. Ready, set, go.



This New Year, I Resolve to Make No Resolutions

New Year's resolutions make me nervous. So much pressure. So many expectations. So many chances to fail miserably. I don't ever seem to succeed at a single one. When you start in January, you're always excited and chomping at the bit, being extra-diligent, making sure you're doing every single asinine thing on your list: exercising, reading more, eating healthier, spending more time with your family, spending less money. By Groundhog Day, you're lucky if you're even sporadically doing even one of the stupid things from your list. All they do is breed guilt and/or self-deception. You fail, and to avoid feeling bad, you tell yourself, "Being healthy is really overrated. Ulcerative colitis won't be so bad. I don't think I really need that much fiber anyway, and besides, I look like a total dork in bike shorts. No need to subject a whole gym full of people to that sight..." The list goes on and on, excuse after excuse, and you feel a little guilty until the Superbowl, but by the time Valentine's Day rolls around, you forget all about your shallow resolutions until December when you take inventory of your life for the year and feel like crap for not achieving any of your goals, so you ultimately make (and subsequently break) the same one the following year. What's the point?



In actuality, I did make resolutions this year. Loads of them. Eating healthier. More family time. Working out at least twice a week. Date night at least once a month. So much money in savings, so much debt paid off. Writing a personal, handwritten note to at least one person each week... I have already failed at most of them. I'm going running as soon as B gets home this afternoon. Maybe if I say it in a public forum I'll be more apt to do it. Maybe forcing myself to be disciplined in writing will help me to cultivate discipline in other areas of my life. A girl can dream, can't she?