NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS: PROMISES TO KEEP

A Bright New Year
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January 1 marks the start of a new year, hence a celebration that we have come to call as – what else? – New Year! The revelries actually start during the last hours of Dec. 31, when people gather with their loved ones over a New Year’s eve dinner. Some folks light up some fireworks to greet the incoming year. Others spend it merrymaking, exchanging smiles and laughter with the people around them. Others spend it in silence, contemplating on the year that was and the possibilities of the year that will come.

Truly, a variety of customs is observed to celebrate the New Year. Some people believe that jumping as high as you could come the first second of the first day of the year, you’d get taller by that year’s end. Others believe that making some noise would drive away the bad energies that may have accumulated in the household.

Indeed, there are many customs being observed. One universal tradition for New Year, however, is the undertaking of what many people call as New Year’s resolutions. These are promises that would be for the betterment of yourself which you would promise to comply with for the coming year.

Now, New Year’s resolutions have developed quite some notoriety for being left unfulfilled. The problem, really, is that some people make resolutions which are too difficult to satisfy. “I promise to become a millionaire by the end of the year” is quite a hefty goal that needs further study. “I promise to quit smoking” is not something you could accomplish overnight. “I promise to never tell a lie anymore” is not as easy as it sounds.

For New Year’s resolutions to carry some weight, you should be able to come up with doable ones. Start with something practical and possible… something that you could actually accomplish. Here are some guidelines that could help you prepare a list.

Do you have a habit that is unhealthy? Perhaps you could break down your desistance from the same into step by step procedures. Make each step a resolution. You’d be surprised at how effective this approach would be in keeping your New Year’s resolution.
Do you have a personal goal that you want to attain? Try to determine if it’s feasible within the year. No one is pressuring you to accomplish the same, anyway. Devise a plan beforehand, and set a timetable for each aspect. If the timetable is in consonance with the coming year, make each aspect a resolution of its own. Again, like the suggestion above, this would be a more effective approach to keeping your New Year’s resolution.
Have you pinpointed a certain aspect of your character that you wish to improve? Try to determine if this would be consistent with who you really are. No one knows yourself better than you do. And you cannot just change who you are just like that. Often, a personal change needs a conglomeration of a lot of factors, beginning with introspection and a will to be better that should come from deep within you.

New Year’s resolutions lose their meaning if we just blurt them out without thinking about the same. They would then become an exercise in futility, as a halfhearted promise is a promise that is as good as broken.

If you wish to effectuate a change in your life through the resolutions you would deliver to greet the New Year, make sure that they are resolutions which are not impossible to fulfill, and that they are resolutions which are reinforced by a sincere desire to see them through.