To Resolve or Not to Resolve? That is the Question

By the time you read this, it will be 2013.  Hard to believe another year is gone… I mean GONE!  I find it crazy anymore how quickly a year comes, and a year goes.  But it does.  So I thought I would go back and read what I wrote last year this same time.  I knew what I was getting myself into, but hey, it’s a new year, right? 

If you’ve been reading my column for a while now, you might remember last year’s.  It was a list of New Year’s Resolutions basically summed up as 

1) get up earlier

2) put correspondence after spiritual disciplines

3) get off of sugar, get back to exercising, and get back on the healthy track before I turn 50 

4) and live a life of grace toward myself, accepting myself as good enough.  

Well, I’m not sure how good you did on your resolutions, but I did just as bout as good as most Americans: about 45 percent of Americans make resolutions, but only 8 percent keep them, according to 2012 statistics from the Statistic Brain Research Institute.  “The most popular goals are losing weight and staying fit, getting organized, spending less and saving more, and enjoying life.” Those sound so reasonable!  Why do 92 percent of us fail? 

Another study tracked 3,000 people and their new year’s resolutions. They found that men are 22 percent more likely to succeed if they set a specific goal or focus.  Women are 10 percent more likely to succeed if they tell their friends and family about their resolution or are encouraged not to revert to old habits.  Well piffle! I set specific goals AND told all of you and still didn’t succeed. 

It would be easy to just give up.  Walk away.  Be done with it.  Sleep as long as I want.  Allow emails and Facebook messages to consume my life, taking over all chance of a spiritual foundation.  Eat as much sugar as I desire, become a diabetic someday, and put on as much weight as naturally occurs from eating any way I want, any time I want.  And constantly beat myself up about what a failure I am, how I disappoint most everyone at least some of the time, and others most of the time!  Take that, New Year’s Resolutions!

But I would be even more a failure than missing three out of my four resolutions each year.  I would still miss out on all the great reading, prayer time, and special time with my Father each morning.  I would still feel sluggish and get those reoccurring stabs of pain in my left temple when I consume too much sugar, not to mention the muffin top that is quickly forming around my waistline, if I’m not willing to buy a new wardrobe at least one size larger.  And most of all, I would miss out on the incredibly beautiful and loving act we call grace.  Deserved or not with resolution accomplishment, I am a wonderful, beautiful, beloved child of God… and so are you. 

So, just as I didn’t quit quitting smoking for years on end, I won’t quit setting New Year’s Resolutions.  Heck! It paid off eventually!  I’m a non-smoker now.  The chances of me succeeding on some of my other resolutions are just as feasible.  And who knows, this may even be the year all of us accomplish more than just one!  So don’t give up and don’t give in.  Keep working toward a better, more healthy, more Spirit-led, grace-filled life.  You’ll be glad you did!  And so will all the friends, family, coworkers and neighbors around you.  

Cheers to 2013 and good riddance to 2012.  It’s a new year and I’m excited to see what it holds!  Game on with a new score card… to success and good health: body, mind, and soul.  Cheers! Happy New Year, my friends!  It’s going to be another good one.