It's official. 2017 is finally upon us. At the start of each year many people participate in the tradition of making New Year's Resolutions. When my editor mentioned the idea of writing articles about this tradition, I was honestly dreading it. After thinking about it, and talking to someone I trust, I came to the realization that this was the perfect opportunity, not to write about my resolutions, but rather to share why I don't make resolutions. It's also an opportunity to make others stop and think about whether or not resolutions at the start of a new year are really the right thing to be doing.
One of the issues with these resolutions is that no one every really follows through with them. We all make our lists and make our plans, but when the end of the year arrives, we haven't accomplished a single one of our resolutions. It's not that we don't want to accomplish them, rather the problem lies with the length of time we given to follow them through. An entire year is a long time. We feel like we have forever to accomplish the resolutions, so we put off actually doing them. The end of the year arrives before we realize it, and we end up feeling bad about ourselves, so we resolve to accomplish our tasks at the start of the next year. It is a cycle that leads to disappointment, yet we can't seem to stop ourselves.
Another problem is the unrealistic expectations we have for ourselves when coming up with our resolutions. It's not that we aren't capable of reaching the goals, but we don't set up smaller goals to help us reach the larger ones. We focus so hard on the big picture, we forget about the sometimes difficult road we must take to arrive at our goals. When we make the resolutions, we're excited and ready to accomplish them, but the moment when the real work begins, we have a tendency to bail. We lost motivation along the way, and another year ends when the resolutions we made were not accomplished. Once again, a new year begins, and we start the cycle over with more unrealistic resolutions.
Perhaps the biggest issue with New Year's Resolutions is the fact we wait an entire year to look back on our lives and decide we need to make changes. Why wait so long? Why not analyze our lives daily to find what should be changed? The longer we wait to change, the longer we get into habits we do not like that are hard to break. Every single day is a chance to fix the problems in our lives. Every moment is a chance o live the best possible life. We aren't promised next year, or even tomorrow, so why wait?
The final problem with resolutions of any kind, not just New Year's Resolutions, is the entitlement behind them. We analyze our lives, and we decide what we think should change. Too many times we forget to consult God. What needs changed, improved, or removed from our lives should come from God, not from ourselves. He has a plan for each of us, and we should desire to follow that plan and ask Him what we should be doing.
I want to encourage every individual reading this article to take the title as a piece of advice, and stop making resolutions at the start of a new year. Instead, pray daily for guidance from God on the changes, improvements, and anything else needed in your life. Don't waste a single moment. It's perfectly okay to set those larger goals, but don't forget to make smaller ones to help in the achievement of the larger goal. Make sure each goal you set and every resolution you make lines up with the life God desires for you. Keep Him first, and everything else will fall into place. Make the most of every moment God gives you in 2017. Happy New Year!
