New Year's Resolutions

A New Year. A time when people are pledging to be better, to be more, to improve somehow. I can't help but think, (cynically), how many people will abandon their New Year's Resolutions within a short time. Promises broken....again.

What is it that makes resolutions so difficult to honor? So fleeting? So opposite of resolute? Do we aim too high? Expect the impossible of ourselves? Or could it be that we construct our resolutions on false pretenses?

The specifics of our resolutions vary as much as the people making them. But the underlying theme is common: denial, disappointment, distaste, or disgust. It seems that we set our intentions to change that which we despise in ourselves and our lives. We are overweight and under-motivated; overcommitted and under-relaxed; we want more of this and less of that; we lose our patience too quickly and accomplish our goals too slowly. Too, too, too.

What a damaging word - 'too'. 'Too' implies that something is not right. And this is where it all goes wrong. If we fail to accept the reality of our current circumstances, how can we hope to change it? We cannot transform that which we don't accept. If we could truly accept our lives without blame or anger, we could look at our difficulties with compassion. And if we move forward with kindness, we stand a better chance at success.

Perhaps we can all start with the resolution to embrace what IS, before we attempt to achieve what isn't. We can accept and respond rather than deny and react. Then maybe, quite possibly, our resolutions will stick.