It’s that time of the year again. You know what I’m talking about. The first day of the new year! A day that’s filled with reflection of the past year, hope for the coming year, and the all important New Years Resolutions! Starting a new year just wouldn’t seem right without having a lofty goal or two to aim for!
Being 23 years old (23 is halfway to 46…I am officially old, ugh), I have been apart of a New Year or two, and I have seen more than several people get bent out of shape when they don’t reach or keep their resolutions. It’s as if the success of their entire year depended on their resolutions! Some common resolutions that I’ve experienced are: going to the gym every day, losing x amount of weight by this time, getting up early every day to be more productive, read this many books during the year, etc., etc., etc. Once they fail to keep them, the typical response is to sweep the resolution(s) under the rug and bring them back out at the start of the next year. This happens year after year after year. That has got to be exhausting! Way too much sweeping for me… I get the whole point of starting these resolutions on January 1st. It is the first day on the calendar and gives everyone an easy way to track their progress. It makes sense. But other than it being the first day of the year, what makes it different than any other day of the year, or even December 31st?
I work at the FedEx hub at the Indianapolis airport with over 5,000 other employees working the third shift. I have met many different people from all different stages of life. One guy I work with in my area is Patrick. He is 21 year old college student who seems to enjoy everything and everyone around him all the time, which is an especially difficult thing to do outside in the cold at 2 in the morning. I wish I could say the same about me! Anyway, last night at work he said something about New Years that I thought was really interesting. I asked him if he had done anything for New Years before coming in to work. He mentioned that he watched the ball drop like every year and took a nap prior to that, but then he went down a little rabbit trail (as he does from time to time) that was really interesting. He said something to this effect.
“You know, Matt, my life really doesn’t feel any different starting the new year. I mean, there really isn’t anything different in the few hours from 10 pm on December 31st to 1 am January 1st, you know? Now if I were to look at my life 6 or 9 months from now, I might see some change, but three hours is just crazy! There is no change at all!”
I find this interesting for several reasons. The first is the response he gave me had almost zero to do with the question I had originally asked him (you have to be on your toes all the time when talking to Patrick, you never know when he will throw a curveball). Secondly, I realized just how true that statement really was. January 1st is just like every other day of the year. Nothing is different about it when you look at the big picture. There will (hopefully, God allowing) be a morning, afternoon and night. You will eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. You’ll have choices to make and life to enjoy. This is the same as every other day. There really isn’t a whole lot different on January 1st than any other day of the year. So I would encourage you, don’t hang the entire weight of the coming year on your New Years Resolutions. Everyday of the year could be ‘January 1st’ for you if you want!
So why do we choose January 1st to start our resolutions? I am convinced it is because everyone likes a fresh start and the first day of the year provides a great outlet for that to happen. Perfect. So since I am through ranting about these resolutions, I am going to list a few of my resolutions for this year (I have more than one, so that makes me super special this year).
- Take more selfies. ‘Selfie’ was named the Oxford Dictionary’s word of 2013. Seriously, it’s true. As the proud owner of an iPhone for the past three years, I can honestly say I have taken exactly zero selfies. Now some of you might be thinking ‘What’s the point of having an iPhone without taking selfies?’ My thoughts exactly. You can look forward to seeing more of those across the interwebs this year! (And see what I did with this resolution? I left it vague and ripe for success. I only have to take one selfie to have taken more than last year. Score.)
- Gain weight. I feel like not many people have this on their list. Mostly everyone I know who has a weight related resolution is trying to lose it. Heck, I lose things all the time without trying, so why have a resolution with that as the end result…right?
- Drink the last bit of coffee. I don’t know if this is typical with a lot of coffee drinkers, but wheneve
r I am
enjoying a cup of the delicious steaming beverage, I never finish it. Ever. It doesn’t matter the size, type, or quality. It never gets finished. In fact, as I am typing this, there is a little bit of very cold coffee sitting at the bottom of my coffee cup from when I started writing this. Way to start the new year off with a bang Matt…
I decided this year to have some less serious resolutions than in years past. If you have trouble finishing your resolutions, I encourage you to take the same approach. Leave yourself some room for success! Although I can’t promise you won’t fail on the first day like me…
Happy New Year!
Fear Not 