When I was much younger, every Christmas my mum and her siblings would put their children into a boat and send us off to the village to spend our Christmas and New Year; they went with us most times, but sometimes they did not. Either way, it was always fun. Those are some of the fondest childhood memories I have.
On those Christmases, one thing was held sacred: You must go to church on New Year's Eve; there was no debate or excuses, and you must of necessity have a New Years Resolution. I honestly do not know how many of those resolutions I followed through on; the truth was I needed to have a New Years resolution because everyone else had one.
As an adult, New Year's resolution presents the appeal of starting over, alas it is not that simple! Some of us have truckloads of unhealthy habits, and poor decisions we have made that are not just going to disappear because there is a change of date on the calendar. What we can do though is to take out a few days and reflect on the year that is about to end, honestly admit our strengths and weaknesses draw up realistic plans on how to use opportunities that present themselves and handle possible threats.
Recently, I was going through my things and came across a diary I had used for my retreat a couple of years ago, in all honesty, that was the only year I had a retreat. I started by listing out the things I would have liked to achieve that year, how many of those I did, and then, I went on to compile a list of things I would like to do in the coming year, and how I intended to achieve them. I also listed out all my positive and negative attributes with a side note on how I would improve the good ones and eliminate/reduce the bad ones. I know for a fact that that was one the best years for me because I was generally more focused and I knew where I was going. I did not just stumble into the year unprepared armed only with a New Years resolution.
As we know, a well thought out resolution is not a bad thing. My point is, most times we overlook the well thought out aspect and arrive in the new year with decisions that are neither here nor there, and by February most of us would have probably forgotten what it was we said we would do or not do.
What I intend to do, I hope to lock myself indoors for at least two days, switch off my cell phones if possible, arm myself with a notepad, a pen, a bible and motivational book (Reposition Yourself by T.D. Jakes). Hopefully, by January 1, I will have a well thought out New years resolution.
* What's Your Take? How do you decide on your resolutions? Use the comment box share with us.*
