Resolving Resolutions

Give up all sources of caffeine, save a ridiculous amount of money a month, lose an exorbitant amount of weight, finish every project I ever started, organize every nook and cranny of every nook and cranny, write a novel or two, learn a few new languages…

I love fresh starts. Whether it is the start of summer vacation, the first day of school, the beginning of the week, or waking up in the morning, I love the sensation of a fresh start. The knowledge that no matter what I did yesterday or what I might do tomorrow- I have the opportunity right now to live life how I desire to live life. And that is refreshing to me.

So, as a lover of fresh starts, one would think that New Year’s is a monumental occasion for someone like me. But really, it never has been. And it always is surprising to me that it isn’t such an occasion for me, being a worldwide fresh start sort of day and all. So, this has got me thinking- why? Why is New Year’s just another day to me?

Is it too big of a deal? Maybe I like fresh starts that are more personal, that are unique to me and my life and not 6.6 billion people on Earth. Maybe the big dealness of the whole day and the hype of making resolutions for the New Year is too mediaized (I don’t know if that is a real word, but I think it works here.) Maybe I don’t want to do what everyone else is doing? But am I really that self-conscious about being a unique individual? Hmmm….

Is it too much pressure? Maybe I don’t like to make New Year resolutions because there is too much pressure on keeping and fulfilling these almost always lofty goals. Everyone expects you to make a New Year’s resolution- to change something about yourself and your life and then be able to have something to show for it in 365 days. What if I fail? What if I give up after 72 days? That means I would have 293 days to feel bad about failing before I have another opportunity to make new resolution.

Is it too difficult? Maybe the kinds of resolutions that I feel are worthy of resolving to at the start of a new year are too complicated. Making and breaking habits is hard. Changing, replacing, removing, or adding something to our daily routines is more challenging that it looks written on a list of goals. I don’t have any statistics to back me up here, but I bet losing weight is a fairly popular resolution for people to make. It’s probably up there with quitting a smoking habit and not excessivly drinking. Goals that take two words to write are often the most challenging to do: Lose weight, visit gym, no caffeine, quit smoking, quit drinking, etc. In order to do such things people have to make fundamental daily changes. Maybe it’s just too hard.

Is it too infrequent? Maybe the fact that New Year’s is a once a year kind of thing is a turn off. It only allows one chance all year to make a change. I think that I would rather have ample opportunities on any day of the year to make changes to my life. I don’t want to be bound to one day for making big changes. I want to be able to wake up one mundane Thursday morning in the middle of spring and have a fresh start and resolve to make a change in my life. I think this is the reason that rings truest to why I am not a New Year’s resolution kind of girl.

So, my New Year resolution is that I resolve to not make any New Year resolutions. I’ll save them for an ordinary day. Maybe January 2nd.