Resolutions to goals
Sarah O’ Connor / Silhouette Staff
Promises upon promises upon promises. “My New Year’s Resolution is to lose weight.” “My New Year’s Resolution is to ask out my crush.” “My New Year’s Resolution is to be a better person.”
It happens every year when that silver ball drops at midnight. Every year when lovers kiss for luck and the single cheer that vows this will be their year. Every person makes a resolution, planning on how to make this year the best year yet. But will it be the best? I’ve never been in the habit of making resolutions. From my foggy childhood memory, I remember being asked what my resolution would be for the coming year.
I shrugged my shoulders, unsure how to reply. How can you plan to change something in one year? I suppose it depends on the weight of the resolution. If it’s something small like losing weight, that is possible.A person can lose a significant amount of weight in a year, if they actually put the effort into losing weight.
If it’s something like asking out a crush it is also possible, but harder. It shouldn’t be so difficult to ask someone out, but it is when all a person can think about is looking like a fool, their stomach fluttering with nerves, anxiety pulsing through every fiber of their body. Asking that special someone if they “want to go on a date” would make walking into a volcano look fun.
And when someone says they’ll be a better person, that’s nearly impossible. How can someone change who he or she is in one year when they have been themselves for X number of years?
The truth is, every time someone makes a New Year’s Resolution, there’s a part of them that knows they don’t have to keep it.
I always feel that New Year’s Resolutions set us up for failure. Too many people use the easy cop-out that “there’s always next year.” And there is always next year until one year you’re old and wrinkled. This might be it.
Why don’t we look to New Year’s Resolutions as goals? True, they’re both basically the same thing, but goals set us up for success. Goals are attainable. We work hard to achieve our goals, but we push off resolutions. With goals, people are allowed to go at there own pace. With resolutions, we only have 365 days.
