One of the things we look forward to at the start of the year is the limitless possibilities the next 365 days can provide. There's adventure just waiting to happen. One of the things we as people like to do is to look back and improve.
There always seems to be a standard we set for ourselves throughout the year. We want to be happy, we want good grades, we want money, love, etc. With this comes the tradition of the New Year's resolution.
The New Year's resolution is a custom primarily from western cultures, but it can also be a practice found in all parts of the world. It's a tradition in which one person makes a promise to do an act of self-improvement or something nice. An example of this would be to open the door for someone every chance you got.
New Year's resolutions can be anything from simple things to something a bit more personal. One year, your resolution can be to say hello to everyone you see rather than ignoring them, while another year, it can be to lose weight that you packed on.
The problem with the New Year's resolution is the simple fact that it's a promise to ourselves to be better. The thing with promises is that they can be broken, whether it's between you and someone else or if it's a promise to yourself.
Feelings that can come with the failure of a kept promise are anger, disappointment, and sadness, to name a few. If you fail to meet the expectations you or someone else places on you, then you know how shitty that feels. It's essentially the same thing. The only difference is that we place this promise to ourselves at the start of the New Year to give us the blueprint of how we want the year to go. Some things just don't go as planned.
If anything, why do we still participate in the tradition of a New Year's resolution? Why do we wait until the year begins to try and change when change is just a thought away?
The best thing to do is to just let yourself be better without a time frame. Forcing yourself to do anything is going to yield less than exceptional results. Plus, the whole tradition is bullshit anyways.
Treat yourself to some nice ice cream instead of worrying about your weight this year. Have some fun.
