In those final weeks of December leading up to 2014, I started coming up with some New Year’s resolutions. Without going into too much detail, the resolutions I started coming up with were your typical New Year’s resolutions… those that involved giving something up. In fact, this year I decided to give up two things. Then I started steeling my resolve in preparation for January 1st.
Then, the other day, a friend posted her own New Year’s resolution on her Facebook page. Her New Year’s resolution is – get this – to go to a different restaurant every week in her hometown (and our former hometown) of Charleston, South Carolina.
This resolution turned my idea of New Year’s resolutions on its ear. Not only is she not giving anything up, she’s making a resolution to do something that is fun, and pretty much guaranteed to cost money. How dare she make a resolution like this? Here I am, hunkering down for a year of giving up two things that I enjoy, while she’s resolving to go out and have fun in her hometown.
That’s when I realized that she’s right!
New Year’s resolutions are all about making your life better. When you resolve to lose weight, or quit smoking, or stop spending so much, or cut down on alcohol or caffeine, you’re doing these things because you think you’re going to gain a net benefit from them. No pain, no gain, so to speak. But if your goal is to come up with a New Year’s resolution to make your life more enjoyable, why not make a positive New Year’s resolution instead, or as well? Resolve to do something positive that is going to enhance your life – to make your life more enjoyable.
Why not resolve to experience more this year… to go for more long walks in nature, or to eat different foods from different countries around the world? Maybe visit a country you’ve never been to this year, or resolve to meet someone new every week. Resolve to get back in touch with old friends or distant relatives. Learn a new musical instrument, foreign language, or skill that has always interested you. If you’re a teacher, resolve to come up with one really fun activity every week for your students, or to add one new unique decoration to your classroom every single week – by the end of the school year, your classroom will have that much more character because of it.
Whatever you resolve, or don’t resolve, to do this year, we wish all the best to you and yours in 2014!
Happy New Year!
