The New Year’s Resolution typically generates from a fault that we notice within ourselves which we want to fix. Someone who finds faults in their body may decide for their resolution to become fit, or to bike to work or school, while someone who finds faults in their actions may decide to quit smoking, spend time with family or become organized. Most New Year’s resolutions don’t make it past January, and maybe that’s because we are trying to fix ourselves in all the wrong ways.
For example, one of my resolutions – which is another problem, why am I putting extra resolutions on my plate? – was to spend less money on things that I don’t need. I decided to use this resolution because I tend to run out of money quickly and I am trying to save up for future adventures and purchases. So, easy fix, I will stop spending money on things I don’t need and, as a result, my savings account will be loaded. Easy fix, right? Wrong!
The thing is, who am I to tell myself what I need versus what I don’t need? Do I need to buy that twenty dollar necklace with one of my favorite quotes on it in order to survive? No. But, do I need it in order to feel some sense of happiness or completion in my life that seems to sometimes be lacking? Maybe…
The faults we are trying to fix with our New Year’s Resolutions are not faults that stand alone. It seems that the bad habits that we try to break are created as a coping mechanism for something a bit more personal.
Take my thoughts with a grain of salt, as I am no psychologist, but an English major with a blog that I like to put my opinions into. But I find this to be true with me, and I think this is why so many resolutions don’t last. The resolution treats the symptom to a problem, but not the actual source.
I wonder if there is a better way to fulfill our New Year’s Resolutions, or if those resolutions are even a necessary part of our lives to become fulfilled. If resolutions are to cover up our faults, then if we keep on sticking to newly created resolutions each year, we will eventually turn into humans without any faults at all. This is the goal, right?
That goal is not a reachable one, as we will always have some sort of fault that we are trying to improve upon. But we must not get frustrated with ourselves when we don’t find our faults disappearing if we are treating strep throat with cough drops.
The point is, New Year’s Resolutions are a bit silly, and if you want to improve yourself, you do not need a new calendar or a time frame in order to accomplish that.
How do you feel about New Year’s Resolutions? Are you keeping yours? Let me know in the comments!!
Collegian blogger Rachel Hamalian can be reached at blogs@collegian.com. Leave a comment!!
