Why I Don't Do New Year's Resolutions
Lose weight? Quit drinking? Give up sugar? Not it!It's not that I'm against New Year's resolutions.
I just don't do them.
I love personal challenges and growth. I like consciously deciding to make my life better. Living healthier? Count me in.
What I don't like is feeling like I have to do it on the same specific day every year.
I don't know about you, but after the holidays I am normally spent. My mind is foggy, my body blubbery and my skin dull. My tummy hurts. The house is dirty and the fridge has nothing but dried out cookies and leftovers bits from cheese platters and (I sometimes save cheese that's been out for 12 hours... I know, gross).
It's all-around pathetic.
So yeah, I am in a frame of mind that craves a cleanse of some sort. A healthy eating resolution or something would sounds pretty good about now. Precisely why I started my healthy eating "resolution" yesterday. Not on New Year's Day.
I resolve things year-round.
Last March, I started the Whole30. On March 11, to be exact. Why? Because in the month or so leading up to it, I decided I wanted to figure out which foods affected my body in a bad way. I didn't give two craps about that on January 1, or at least not in a serious way.I started this blog on October 1, 2013. February of 2014 marked my decision to get rid of 1,000 things in my house (more on that soon!). In September of 2011, I vowed to wear heels more often. November of 2009, I started drinking 100 ounces of water a day. Sometime in 2007, I committed to flossing my teeth more days that not.I didn't wait until a nice, round date to kick things off. I started when I was ready and committed. I began when I realized there was something I truly, genuinely wanted to change in my life.
If New Year's Day is that day for you, go for it!
But if you're scrambling to come up with a way to better your life because that's what you do on New Year's, then maybe don't. Wait until you're really committed.That's when resolutions stick.
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And after all that, I still want to ask: Are you doing a New Year's resolution this year?PS If you're looking for ways to make your life better-- not necessarily on NYD, just whenever--, here's a bit on challenging yourself to face the world without makeup, why you might want to try a new, scary sport and what it's like to face your biggest fear.
