Resolutions 1: The Cost

Happy New Year!
One of my resolutions for 2018 is simply to "write more" so, in attempt to start making good on that commitment I'm starting the year with a short series called the 5 C's of New Year's Resolutions where I'll be taking a great quote that I read this last year and giving you my thoughts about how it relates to the making (and keeping) of New Year's resolutions. So here we go...

Day 1: The Cost

 
 Resolutions of great substance generally require heavy lifting and an extended attention to detail.
-Michael Perry-




Last night, at midnight there were countdowns, cheers, champagne toasts and kisses between lovers. We threw out our old calendars and planners in order to make room for the new ones we had waiting.

Many of us, including myself, enjoy making a big deal out of milestones. We get excited to put the 100,000th or 200,00th mile on a vehicle, even though both are just another 5,280 feet. In a similar way, we get excited about January 1st. We like to imagine this 24 hours as the beginning of a new journey or a a benchmark in a much greater one that is already unfolding before us. We use the first day of the calendar year as a time to make resolutions, plans, and commitments for the future and, by gosh, it’s all very exciting.

During last night’s anticipatory celebration my friend Sam asked me if I had made any resolutions. I explained to him that I use the time from January 1 until my birthday at the end of February as a trail period for my yearly resolutions. I turned 30 in 2017, and made a list of 30 goals for myself, of which I will feasibly accomplish 12. As my 30th year is coming to it’s end, Sam’s looms over the horizon, just a few short days away. He asked for advice on turning 30. So, I shared a piece of wisdom that had been shared with me about a year ago: “On your 30th birthday you’ll wake up and nothing will have changed”. I did, however, add the hopeful caveat “But everything can”.

Today’s quote reminds me that it is much easier, and far more romantic, to SAY that we’re going to do something than it is to put in the hard work and long hours that will enable us to put a check mark next to our resolutions. We all get 24 hours in a day, we all have strengths and weaknesses, and we all are given the choice of how we use what we have been given to bring about the change we desire to see in ourselves and the world that surrounds us.

So, have at it. But, be ready for some blisters.