It’s that time of year again when people make false promises to themselves. WOOT! I would say I am one of those people, but I’m not. I refuse to make a resolution when I KNOW it wouldn’t last a day. Hell, I couldn’t even last through the forty days of lent when I was a “good” catholic, I definitely wouldn’t last a full year, or worse, the rest of my life.
I can see the appeal though. People want to make changes in their lives and while they can do this any day of the year, it makes sense to want to put the proverbial foot down and make that change the beginning of the year. Out with the old, in with the new, yadda yadda. But as I see it, if you truly wanted to make a change, you would do so at the moment you decide it needs to be done, not wait until the end of the year. If you do wait, were you really serious? Think about it… go ahead… I’ll wait for you…
So, have you decided that you’re really serious? Okay. Good for you! I’m really proud of you.
Now… Just for giggles, let’s go through some of the more popular resolutions.
1) Lose weight/Exercise more – I think this is the MOST popular of all resolutions, not to mention it’s the one that makes the gyms out there the most money. When my husband was working at the gym as a sales rep, he made his most money between the months of December (when people were giving memberships as gifts - kinda rude, don't you think?) and February. I personally loved those months – well, my pockets did anyway. I asked my husband how often those people showed up after those first couple of months… hardly ever, yet they were still paying their monthly membership fees. As I said, it’s the Cash Cow resolution (no pun intended).
2) Stop taking drugs – I include cigarettes and alcohol in this since they are drugs as well. This is probably one of the hardest to give up. It’s noble, yes, but most people don’t have a plan to do this. Quit cold turkey? Gradually stop? For the milder drugs (cigarettes, alcohol), it’s extremely hard to do this, especially in our current economy. If anything, with all the added stress, people tend to smoke and drink more! I say good luck and I hope you can last longer than a week before you pick up another drink or smoke. For the hardcore drugs… Well, that’s more than I can really handle in one blog post and I won’t even try, but I wish you all the support and love that you will need to overcome your vices.
3) Save Money/Manage Debt – Perhaps the most doable of resolutions, but this goes to hell as soon as Valentine’s comes around. This requires discipline and time, two things many people do not have these days, unless they’re unemployed in which case, the resolution of saving money and managing debt becomes moot.
4) Get a better _________ - Fill in the blank here. Car, job, education, home, etc. I think this goes with #3 personally. You can get a better anything if you're not saving money or managing your money better.
5) The ever vague, become a better person – While this is all fine and dandy, I want to know what people actually mean by this. How does one become a better person? Do they get a personality transplant? Or do they mean financially better (see #3 and 4)? Does the person want to be more loving and caring? Around more (again very vague)? Someone please explain this one to me. Perhaps I’m just goal-oriented and I feel that there is no real goal here since someone can always “better” themselves someway, somehow, ya know? And aren’t resolutions supposed to be about goals? Maybe I’m wrong. Someone tell me I’m wrong. I want to be a better person and admit my mistakes…
Well, happy resolution making my friends and may 2011 be as wonderful or better as 2010!
P.S. My new year's resolution? Come up with a more original end of year blog post and don't lie about not making resolutions. *wink*
