Happy New Year's Resolutions!

Photo by hokpakh3.

Ahhh, the big reset button!  A New Year!  Where all of the possibilities of a better life excite each of us so much that we formulate a refreshed, optimistic outlook and create an earnest and thoughtful plan for the year ahead, A.K.A a New Year's resolution! 

There are so may cliche resolutions: lose weight, eat healthier, save more money and/or the world, volunteer more, drink more water, shave our legs regularly etc. etc.  Perhaps like me, you notice your resolutions seem to repeat themselves each year, unresolved from the year before.  Each time we make these annual pledges to ourselves, we grit our teeth more firmly, and convince ourselves that this year will be different, and by God, we will get the job done!!

Watching some of the New Year's eve shows and reading quips in newspapers, I am also amazed at how little some people bite off when it comes to creating their master plan for the entire and unblemished canvas of the blessed year that lies before them.  My favorite of the reported resolutions I read was to "Brush my dog's teeth more regularly!"

I can only imagine the process that led to this being the front runner for this individual's New Year's resolution.  Did this poor sod walk daily by their sweet, innocent, plaque-infested pooch and mentally kick themselves over and over again with thoughts such as, "God I suck! Your teeth are so disgusting!" and having grown so tired of the relentless guilt and mental torture (not to mention heinous doggy breath), that they finally and resolutely, resolved to get the damn job done once and for all, goddammit, so they could just simply walk by their dog and not have to feel like the worst pet owner in the world!  And so vowing before nobody in particular, took on the grand task of canine oral hygiene, believing that their life in the next year would somehow be better for the doing of this super important task.  (Okay vet people, I know doggy dental issues are important, but really? So important that it is the first commitment to spring to mind whence planning for the betterment of the New Year?)

I generally like to go big with my New Year's resolutions as I attempt to correct what I feel were my biggest shortcomings of the prior year.  I have a pretty extensive list.  Of course fitness is one.  I read today in the New York times that New Year's fitness resolutions are the biggest boon for the fitness industry and gyms alike as people spend more money in January than any other month of the year on memberships they will stop using by March. 

Saving more money is up there on the resolution list, likely, a continued reaction to the horror movie of an economy we find ourselves unwillingly cast into.  I also want to pursue other interests that I haven't been able to find time for because of the aforementioned resolution, the saving money one, that forces me to work more and sucks every ounce of time from my life so I can't do things like write, or paint more or anything fun, Goddammit!  Whoa, am I biting off more than I can chew here?
Weren't these grand plans still taped to my refrigerator from last year?

Maybe, I began to think, I should resolve to cut myself some slack!  What do I honestly think I can change to facilitate these goals that I have had for years but have been unable to achieve?  I mean, I still have kids to take care of, a full time job and a business to run with all of the stresses that go along with that.  These realities aren't going anywhere anytime soon and no matter how vehemently I swear to everlasting God that I will change, I can't reasonably expect to succeed.  Perhaps the resolution should be more about the process and not the outcome.

Take the dog tooth brushing example.  What obstacles stopped that person from just grabbing a toothbrush along with some meat flavored tooth paste and brushing that darn dog's teeth?  Maybe the dog doesn't like it, and it turns into an all out battle to keep him still, and they end up just getting meat paste all over each other?  Maybe the real reason they don't do it is because it is frigging impossible within the constraints of real life?  Their dog is not suddenly going to hold still and make it easier for him, just because he made an out-loud vow to do it better in 2012.

Rewind! Change that!  My new New Year's resolution is to lower my expectations!  Maybe instead of brushing the dog's teeth more, this person could take the dog to the vet and have them do it, or throw him a bone to gnaw on once in a while?  For me, perhaps I will look at the bigger picture of my life, and accept that I have limited time and resources and no amount of good intentions is going to make these goals more achievable this year.  I need to accept that it doesn't mean I am weak, disorganized or lazy.  If I keep failing to achieve my resolutions, I must be aiming too high and each year, setting myself up to feel pathetic and horrible the following year because I haven't achieved these unattainable goals.  I got a dollar says that poor sod's dog will still have gungy teeth at the end of the year!

So...I resolve to do the best I can next year...within my reality.  I resolve not to set myself up for failure!  I want to live in the year feeling good about myself and not guilty for not being perfect at all the things I lack the ability to be perfect at.  I resolve to try, but accept that I might fail.