New Year's Resolutions

I was listening to public radio just now. It was one of those inane shows where they just interview people for no particular reason. The announcer was getting ready to ask a bunch of people what their New Year's Resolutions are. I didn't even hear the people, though, because I was struck by the lead in for the story. The announcer said, "New Year's Resolutions are firmly rooted in both the past and the future."

He said more than that, but I was so taken aback by that statement that I didn't hear the rest. I'd always thought of New Year's Resolutions as being a forward looking thing, something about what we were planning to do this upcoming year. But as soon as the announcer said it I knew the truth of the statement: New Year's Resolutions are as much, if not more, about what we've done in the past than they are about the future. After all, no one resolves to "Eat better in the New Year" if they weren't eating poorly in the old one. No one resolves to stop smoking if they aren't bothered by the smoking that they've done in the past. So New Year's Resolutions aren't a hopeful look toward the future as much as they're a criticism of our past. And maybe that's why so many resolutions fail, because they're not really a plan of action for the future that anyone really can follow. They're just an admission of our past faults.

I don't make New Year's Resolutions. Never have. And it's not for what's written above, though that's fuel for the fire. I don't make New Year's Resolutions because I don't want the calendar to dictate for me when I'm going to make a change. I'm going to make a change when I think the change needs to be made. The fact that it's New Year's Day has nothing to do with it.

Also, I don't have to be disappointed later when I fail...