The Problem with Resolutions

You may not remember me, considering I haven't posted anything since the end of October. Pretty lame, right? I can't put into words my writers block - life just kind of threw me into the whirlwind of the holiday season. I felt like the singer Sting at the Kennedy Center Honors, and how he all the sudden couldn't write songs anymore. Lucky for us, it didn't last forever. Lucky for me, I guess I needed the kick of the New Year to really get motivated again. Sometimes we need a life event to give us that little extra push, I'm happy mine was 2015.

Most people for the New Year decide on a major resolution. To lose weight, quit smoking, save money, get a better job. The list could go on and on. I know from my own experience that resolutions are extremely hard to keep the entire year. One would think that a single goal in 365 days could be managed and maintained. But the term "resolution" itself can be a little misleading. We tend to glorify it as this object, when to me it really is something along the lines of "I have a problem and I need to resolve it." That's where I think we're all going wrong. We think a piece of our lives is a bit of a problem and we must fix it or else. But I truly don't believe that is the case.

So instead of thinking our lives are troublesome, why can't we think of setting short-term goals? Goals that could eventually lead to something wider-spanned and long lived? Where we are not necessarily fixing something in our lives that is "broken," but making something better? A more enhanced version of ourselves? Where we can look back and say we didn't set these unattainable resolutions that remain to sit high on a pedestal?

And just to kick off this conversation, here are a few of my short-term goals. We have to start from somewhere, right?

1. Enter and complete a 5k by summertime
2. Try my extreme hardest not to "sweat the small stuff" (I'm sure my husband will be happy about this one)
3. Learn and grow in my new position at work and don't get discouraged by obstacles
4. Plan a trip that won't break the bank
5. Remember that everything happens for a reason and stay positive

I think that's a firm number - 5. I mean I could probably set 100 things easily to accomplish off the top of my head, but they don't say "baby steps" for no reason. I encourage anyone who reads this to remember that seemingly small thoughts can snowball into life-changing resolutions, all we need is the idea and belief that we can get there.

Happy New Year and here's to 2015!