As everyone’s favorite time of the year, the end of the semester, approaches us, so do the resolutions to better ourselves in yet another upcoming fresh new year.
After the holidays come to a close, we get to experience the joy of looking forward to the new year. We get a fresh start, a reset option to life as we know it, an opportunity to set our goals for the upcoming 12 months and forget about them about a month in: these are what I like to refer to as New Year’s Resolutions.
This season is certainly my favorite all year and Christmas is in fact my favorite holiday, with New Year’s Eve coming in second. The cold weather, the shiny, unique white crystals swinging from side to side as they fall from the sky, the hot chocolate and holiday-inspired lattes topped with sweet old whip cream awaiting in closed areas filled with people embracing a hug of warmth as winter runs the streets of society: it never gets old for me.
Every winter I stand back and embrace it all in, imagining myself to be part of some sort of Christmas movie.
However, this season is great in every aspect: everyone has something to celebrate. Whether you are Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, or Christian, there’s a reason for you to be in family embracing the love and joy going all around.
By the time the last day of the year approaches our home, most of us have moved on from family celebrations to finding fun ways to welcome the new year. Some look back and recall on all the happy memories from the ending year, some rather avoid the bad ones and look forward to a new beginning. Some are simply ready for the partying and fun. Whatever the case may be, no one misses out on the New Year resolutions.
In my home, we have the twelve-grapes tradition. Each person grabs a grape for each month of the year, and at the strike of midnight, must eat them all one by one with a wish for each month prior to indulging on the sour flavored juices of this tasty fruit. We say these resolutions to ourselves, for saying them out loud is considered bad luck. What baffles me, however, is how significant this tradition is at midnight, but
I could not tell you any of my resolutions if you asked me the very day after.
So, this brings me to my question: are New Year’s resolutions worth making?
I am all for following tradition and having the incentive of wanting to better ourselves in the new year, of looking at this excuse to party as a fresh start, and of proposing to ourselves a new beginning. Nonetheless, how may of us actually pull through these resolutions and work towards achieving them?
An extremely popular resolution is- yes, you guessed it- “Start exercising and eating clean to lose weight and fit in.” Many will indeed begin working towards such a resolution during the first few months of the year but slowly let the desire to keep such resolution fade away.
“Oh I have an exam to study for…”
“Too much homework…”
“Summer is not until 6 months from now…”
“Everyone gains weight during the winter…”
“It’s too cold outside…”
The list could go on and on. So, going back to my whole purpose, I am not trying to “bash” New Year’s Resolutions, or those who make them.
It is easy to make a list, but not so much to check it off. I challenge you this year to truly think about your resolutions for the awaited 2015 and decide how realistic they really are and if they’re manageable, regardless of how hard you will need to work for them.
Then, proceed on and shoot for the stars. Do not just name a resolution and hope for it to come true.
Do not promise yourself something you cannot guarantee will happen, like, “more money.”
Motivate and inspire yourself to become or do whatever it is you hope for yourself in 2015. Trust me, your future self will thank you.
The feeling of accomplishment and self-satisfaction is absolutely priceless.
No worries, you have 2 weeks to think about it and come up with a solid list to check off in upcoming twelve months. Until then, Happy Holidays and a VERY Happy New Year!
