In defense of resolutions

January Essay

Another 365 days passed in the blink of an eye. As we embark on this brand-spanking new year, the day will be greeted with pounding headaches, ambitious resolution-makers hitting the pavement (literally), those who couldn't care less, and streets filled with tree carcasses. While I know that I won’t be transforming overnight into a marathon jogger, I’m hopefully not nursing a hangover either. My humble wish is simply to hit that snooze button just once and enjoy a peaceful cup of coffee with Gloria, the cat, comfortably snoozing on my lap. The simple pleasures of a fresh start.

Personally, I love a fresh start. A reset at the start of a new year, new month, new week, or new day. I’m impatient, so I'll take a reset whenever and wherever I can get one. What we will probably be hearing a whole lot about are people's resolutions or intentions for 2024, grandiose plans, and new healthy habits that will miraculously transform our lives. You can call a cabbage a "leafy green," but it’s still a cabbage. A rose by any other name and all of that. I’m not sure when "resolutions" became the weird uncle of the self-improvement world, but I think that they’re misunderstood. The real villain here is the absurd pressure and expectations we put on ourselves. And sorry, but scribbling "run a 10K" on a piece of paper isn't gonna magically make it happen. There are a million tiny steps you'll have to take before the 10K, which may not seem like much on their own. I guess the problem is figuring out what "enough" means to each of us. Is it enough that you've started jogging daily and so one step closer to that marathon, or will none of it matter until you finish that 10K?