On December 31 of each year, I sit down with a fresh journal and write a list of resolutions for the year that is about to begin.
Get fit.
Try something new.
Work on friendships.
Embrace where you are.
Journal every day.
I leave empty little boxes next to them, perfectly square boxes that are practically begging to be filled with a check mark. After not drinking soda and completing a workout almost daily for all of January, I quickly grab my journal to put a check mark there. I'm on my road to being fit, right? So might as well go ahead and reward myself for trying.
I get in a fight with my best friend in February and, after it's all resolved, I add another check to my boxes. Friendships worked on? Duh! Check, check, check.
That's all the resolutions have become: little items on a glorified to-do list. They are not, never have been, and never will be a lifestyle change. They are a fad that you anxiously commit to your life and then forget as soon as times get tough.
This year, I am not making any resolutions. That was a quick conversation killer at the New Year's Eve party I went to, but it is the honest truth.
If I make a resolution for 2016, I know I won't stick to it. Instead, I'm going to make the changes when I know I need to make them.
Maybe next week I'll realize that I did a little too much sitting on the couch over break and it's time to hit the gym. Maybe I'll realize tomorrow that I'm in the midst of a broken friendship that needs to be fixed. Maybe in August I'll realize that I did something to hurt someone last August and apologize for it. And maybe in May I'll have the opportunity to face a fear head on, and I'll do it.
I don't know what this year has in store, and I don't know how any of it is going to unfold. I don't know when the opportunity for change will arise, what heartbreaks and failures I'll face, or where I'll be next year at this time.
But, I do know that January 1 wasn't the only day to start fresh. It wasn't the only time to wake up and say "alright, let's pull it together and do this life thing right." This year, I'm taking it day by day, moment by moment, tiny life change by tiny life change. I hope you'll join me.
