Christmas is done, and a new year is a few days away. Time for a change?
Yes, its that time of year again. It’s a strange week between the 26th and 31st of December, a kind of limbo. Not quite a holiday for most, but still, things aren’t yet back to normal. The decorations are still up, those boxes once filled with toys are piled by the door, waiting for bin day, and the cupboards are stuffed with too many mince pies and that extra tin of Roses you really needed to get.
Personally, I’m drumming my fingers, itching to get on with it, especially after such a strange year as 2016. I have my new year’s resolutions written down, in my head, so if I go back on them, there’ll be no record! A cheeky approach, and one that has never worked for me.
But why is that? New Year’s resolutions sound like a good idea, a promise to yourself to be more who you want to be, to better your life, built on the knowledge you’ve gained from the proceeding year about what isn’t working for you, and what needs to change. However, every year it seems to be the running joke; the New Year’s resolution - the un-keapable promise.
But a promise can be kept, when it is given about a realistic goal. Can you give up EVERY CHOCOLATE BAR EVER? No. Can you cut down during the week and have a naughty evening treat on Saturday? Yes. Can you juice broccoli, carrots and an apple every morning to within an inch of its life? I doubt it, sometimes you just get up too late. But can you do it every other day? Or forgive yourself for missing it during a particularly hectic couple of days, and then go back to juicing once its calmed down? Absolutely.
A resolution must be a realistic goal, a sustainable promise made to gain the life you want. It must also come with forgiveness of yourself if one day you don’t quite manage it. It must come with challenge, yes, but also with a sense of a new start every day, and a new chance to achieve.
It must be a new DAYS resolution, realistic but a challenge to be proud of, and one you carry on throughout the year, with every morning bringing a new beginning for you.