Resolve or Wish?
Happy New Year! May all your resolutions be resolved – or at least renamed!
How many times have you began the new year with a list of resolutions? I have been amazed at how much attention the local and national new has given to New Year’s Resolutions the last few days. Most of the attention has be dedicated to pointing out how quickly most resolutions become forgotten memories within weeks and even days. Resolutions become depression failures and we tend to do it year after year. Mulling that over in my ever-practical brain, it dawned on me that most of us are talking about wishes rather than resolutions. We wish we were in better shape or we wish we’d eat healthier, and we wish we’d lose weight – but we don’t. The root word of resolution is resolve! Many New Year’s resolutions really don’t have much resolve in them, so in truth, we are just vocalizing a wish. That wish may have some semblance of “want” behind it, but it’s a long way from resolve – a mental commitment to change! We have to get our “want to” cranked up enough for it to become real resolve. When that happens, the steadfast determination to stick-it-out, and the change we desire, will eventually happen.
We don’t like the word “eventually” very much. We like the word “now” or “quickly” a lot more. That’s the world we live in. We like fast food, instant entertainment, and no interruptions – and we don’t want to have to change anything. We’ve always known the principle of sowing and reaping, but for some irrational reason, we think we can circumvent it when it comes to being healthy, self-controlled, and getting in shape. I want to eat right, as long as I can eat what I want. I need to get in better shape, but I can’t figure out a way to do it on the couch. I know I should drop about twenty pounds, but there’s so much good food and so little time to eat it all each day.
So, I am resolved! I’m resolved to at least be honest about what I will and won’t be doing. I wish I was lighter, eating better, and back in shape, but I’m not as resolved to making that happen as I should be. I will try to do better, cut back some, walk more and eat more fruits and veggies, and hopefully (wish) lose a few pounds before spring. I am, however, resolved to not go to Fritz’s Frozen Custard for the next two months. Shhhh! Be thankful for little things!
