New Year’s Resolutions

It is that time of year again. We all take a look at our lives and ourselves and decide what we could be doing better. It is a nice thought considering how often we are bombarded with other people’s opinions on what others should be doing, including ourselves. How many times a day do we see images of people and think, I should be more like that, thinner, better looking, more successful, happier, not to mention the pundits sounding off on every t.v. channel and talk-radio station. The world is full of people telling us who we are, what we should believe and how we should behave. It is a shame really that self reflection only happens culturally once a year. When the balance is so skewed in the favor of others, how can one tap into what one really needs in the midst of the holiday hubbub? No wonder the whole thing seems so, commercial. I belong to a gym and every year I despise January because of the influx of people who decide it is time to lose 5 pounds. Not that losing weight is a completely unworthy goal, it is just the fact so many people lose themselves in the year, and then the overwhelming group mentality resolution is to lose a few pounds. February rolls around and the parking lot is emptier. March blows in and the machines are all available. By April the gym is back to normal, quietly accepting the monthly dues of the absent. But what else are people thinking about when they look at their lives? Do they compare themselves with their neighbors or the world at large? Is the ‘big picture’ a part of individual thought, or have we become a world of details; facebook statuses, photos of every meal, twitter updates. I admit to being old-school in a lot of ways, but I think the modern age is really missing a great opportunity here, so I propose a new kind of resolution for the New Year~ one that takes more than 30 seconds to decide upon. A New Year’s resolution for people to really take a few moments and think about what they have, how they spend their time on a daily basis, who they are as people, and then make conscious choices on who they want to be in the future. Health resolutions are great, in fact they can be the most life-changing of all, but looking beyond the obvious could really cause a ripple effect of good, balanced living. Maybe people might even start living consciously more than once a year. That would be a truly different world.