Resolution Shaming

I hope all my readers (yes, all THREE of you) had a wonderful Christmas. And as we draw to the end of the calendar year, I wonder how many of you are going to make New Year's resolutions.

Perhaps people have become more cynical (or maybe it's just me), but theses past few years, I've noticed a lot more instances of people "shaming" New Year's resolutions: mocking unrealistic goals, doubting others will be able to keep theirs past the first week (I hear gym trainers make the most profit in January of every year), and ridiculing the idea of New Year's being some sort of magical day that will instantaneously change us all into better human beings.

Now, I can see where they are coming from, and in a way, I agree on all fronts. If there's anything I learnt this year (by the hard way of failing at it), it's that saying you'll change is a world's difference from becoming that change. And so making resolutions does not equal to achieving them. However, I don't like all this resolution shaming. Some may argue it's a stupid excuse to base personal resolutions on some random date in the year. But isn't any reason at all a good reason to start some positive change?

Don't get me wrong: I like the idea of creating the reason to change out of will (like I did with turning twenty-two). There's something particularly self-empowering about making an active and conscious decision to alter the direction you are heading in. As puny little humans, it's so easy to get caught up in the fact that we can't control very much individually. Circumstances force obligations upon you, time decays your options, and luck will randomly deny you entry of certain doors - and that's ignoring all the people in your life that will fiddle with your fate. However, if we can grasp the mentality that there are certain aspects in our lives that we can indeed influence, that's a very powerful driving force.

I haven't personally created my own New Year's Day this year, so to speak. Like many, I will be relying on the 1st of January as an excuse for my resolutions. But I don't think that devalues them in any way. I won't dive into the explicit content of my list (in the sense of detail, not in the sense of being x-rated), but much like the other times that I've tried to generate some change in my life, I want to base it on two visions: the person I am now, and the person I want to become. As much as that may seem like it makes sense, it's a rather unreliable process because it relies on me having clear vision of both of those people, so that I may decide what I should let go of and what I should hold onto. And I'm not known for having the best eyesight - literally and metaphorically.

Regardless, I hope I'll be able to implement and maintain these new personal goals and changes in my life stepping into 2014 - the whole "new year, new me" pizzazz, hopefully without the narcissism. I'll also be ignoring all the naysayers; let their predictions be just that - predictions. There's nothing wrong with wanting a little positive change in your life, whatever your excuse may be. I say, any motivation is good motivation.

Besides, what else would I rather be doing counting down to the New Year? Watching fireworks? Partying it up? Waiting to kiss someone at countdown? "Sleeping before midnight" - that's on my list.