The new year marks a celebration of the past with anticipation for the future – anticipation where goals are set, plans are made, and everyone has a general optimism because this day, January 1st, feels like a new start. With the change of one day, vegetables don’t taste so bad, weights don’t seem so heavy, and smoking doesn’t seem so necessary. It is the feeling of a much-anticipated new beginning where change is achievable. However, that’s all it is, a feeling. Disguised as an energetic youthfulness, this feeling is derived from a culture that has been trained to put off healthy decision making for the sake of comfort. There is nothing magical about a tomorrow where the sun shines brighter and the birds chirp louder, but a certain ignorance in the idea that one day, change will be easier.
I’ve tried new year’s resolutions. I’ve written them in pretty, colorful letters and taped them to my bathroom mirror. I’ve tried the diets, I joined a gym, I told myself I would study more, all to be forgotten by March. As humans, we fall into the habit of creating “start dates” for ourselves. “Summer – that’s when I’ll be healthy again. I’ll start to run, I’ll cut out bread, I’ll have a better life!” I know two things for certain: I hate running and I love bread, and waking up one morning isn’t going to change that. When the Summer lifestyle change fails, the start date will move to when school starts or the next new year or when Lent starts. The cycle never stops, but the one thing that stays constant is the continual promising of empty resolutions.
As humans, we are planners. It is one of the only things that sets us apart from other animals. It allows us to make goals, timelines to achieve those goals, and an ideal finish which motivates us to continue. A careless habit we fall into with planning is “planning” to do something later. Calling this “planning” takes off the negative weight of the word “procrastinating” and simply places this task on the never-to-be-done to-do list. The problem with this list gathering dust is that it is composed of tasks that would actually improve the life of the procrastinator – things like drinking more water, reading a book, watching the news, going on a diet, starting a website, buying a house, finding love! The common new year’s resolution list is composed of things that the procrastinator should already be doing but is putting off, and we find comfort in knowing that everyone else is doing the same.
It is easy to push off change because we think of our life in terms of a calendar. School happens on weekdays, baseball is on Saturday, church is on Sunday. Wake up at 7 AM, go to class at 8 AM, eat at 12 PM. With our lives broken down to the minute, it is easy to schedule lifestyle changes to when it is convenient. “Well, I have a piano lesson on Tuesday, and a conference on Friday, but I have to drive Suzie to soccer on Wednesday, so it looks like I’ll have to stop smoking on Thursday between getting the car washed and getting dinner with the Stuarts.”
Lifestyle changes should be thought of in terms of time rather than a calendar. Life is a timeline with a beginning and an end, and a whole lot in between. There are always choices to be made no matter where you fall on that line. The heartbreaking truth is that none of us know when the timeline is coming to an end, so if one choice has the chance to make your life better, don’t wait until it is convenient to make that choice.
The excitement that comes with a new year doesn’t have to end, as long as you keep in mind that it is still only a tack on the timeline of life. Each day should be celebrated like it is January 1st with the same energy, optimism, and belief that change is achievable. Buy the gym membership, start the diet, learn the guitar, but don’t make them your new year’s resolutions. Stop making promises and start changing your life.
