New Years Resolutions and/or Bust...

Sometimes I just want to kick Baby New Year in his little diapered ass. I mean, the little turd just puts soooo much pressure on us to do better, be better, stop peeping in the hot neighbor’s window…er, ignore that last part.

I’ve never much cared for New Years. It was always the day the Christmas tree came down and the pretty lights went out when I was kid. Now that I am an incorrigible adult I leave the tree up as long as I want. I don’t care what others think. January’s a cold dark month and the lights help. Besides, it pisses off some of the neighbors and that’s always satisfying.

I have never been much for resolutions and the pressure they bring, either. I did resolve recently to stop looking at boobs for six months. Then Ghost Whisperer came on and that resolution lasted for about two minutes. So I don’t make them. Because if I really want to change something or do something, I just make up my mind to give it my best shot and not worry about some imaginary starting point. Things I put off till New Years tend to be put off till…well, usually forever.

I see a lot of resolutionists in the gym the first week of January, those who have resolved to lose weight or get in shape, or a few looking to snag a mate so they can stop working out and go back to their whatever lifestyle. These usually clear out by the first of February. A few last longer, maybe one or two actually form a lifetime positive habit. But it’s difficult to resolve to do something your heart is not really in. You have to really want to change something and put effort into it. So perhaps huge resolutions should not be attempted. Or maybe they need to be broken down into smaller resolutions that start the minute you decide they are what you would like to do for yourself, or others. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself. Don’t set a goal that’s impossible to obtain. Try smaller ones you know you can reach and build your confidence. If you opted for a jogging program, you wouldn’t start out by running a marathon, would you? You’d maybe resolve to make it to the end of the street, walk a bit, then jog another few yards, until you built your stamina and confidence. If you tried to run the 26 miles right off, you’d wind up discouraged, or more likely lying on the sidewalk, gasping and cursing Nike.

So instead of resolving to immediately run that marathon, set smaller goals and work up to it, in whatever endeavor you wish, or whatever bad habit you long to break.

In any case, a Happy New Year to all--and damn you, Jennifer Love Hewitt, for ruining my first and only resolution of 2010!

The Chloe Files: Kicking Evil’s ass one demon at a time…
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