For reasons I can’t explain, I hate New Year’s resolutions. I think it’s because, at the end of the day, it’s just another day. It’s just another date on the calendar. There isn’t really anything special about starting a new year.
What I do understand is the need to pick a date as your “start” date or “resume” date. At the moment, I’m a little bit at the mercy of others. Husband and I agreed to do a fitness challenge together, which starts January 15. So we’ve known for a while that it’s coming, we’re into day two of 2018, and I feel like I have my shit together. I’ve been a little sporadic in my habits the last month or so, but the behaviors are like muscle memory. Once I get going again, I instinctually know what to do.
So waiting for this challenge to start has been, well, a challenge. In the meantime, it feels like I’m rolling along with all the other New Year resolutioners. It makes me want to not tell anyone what I’m doing because I know the resolution comment will be sure to follow.
I think it bothers me because my goals are not a fad or a trend. Two weeks from now, I’m not going to decide I need a break and never get back into it. I know this about myself because I’ve been working on these habits for a long time. I’m proud of that, and that’s the conversation I’d rather have with people. The challenge that Husband and I are doing together – it’s a motivational thing, it’s a partnership thing. We’re not going to win. That’s not even the point. But by the end of it, I’ll be better for it.
And when I take another step back and look at the even bigger picture, I’m reminded that it’s not even just about my physical health. SAD is a big problem for a lot of people in the winter. That’s how my depression started out, and then it just never really went away. January in the Pacific Northwest is not pretty. The fog closes in and you feel like you can’t breathe. It’s cold and rainy. It has a way of sucking the joy out of things you normally like to do. So to push through that and do things that are good for me for the sake of finding some happiness, that’s worth it. Even if it means it’s best to not really mention it to anyone for a while.
In reality, that’s the way to go anyway. When it comes down to daily habits and this is just the way you live, it’s not really a conversation worth having. It just is.
To anyone and everyone who embraces the new year as an opportunity to do something good and healthy for yourself, from my sincerest self, good for you! Because while New Year’s resolutions aren’t my thing, sometimes it’s just what people need to get going in the right direction. Find your happy, and don’t give up. Happy New Year!
Badass Is the New Skinny 