Resolution or Disillusion?

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Resolution or Disillusion?
Lisa Holt

Have you ever done it?  Have you ever wished you had done it? Do you wish you could do it? Do you think it’s a total waste of time? Do you feel as if you’ve failed when it doesn’t work? This is the time of year that many of us make New Year’s Resolutions. We will lose weight, eat healthy, save more money, pay off the credit card, take our dream vacation, and the list goes on.  While I am all about goal setting and self improvement, sometimes making New Year’s resolutions year after year and looking back on the ones we have made in the past and not met, we sometimes feel a bit, well, inadequate. So this year, let’s take a different approach. Instead of focusing on the resolutions we didn’t meet, let’s focus on what the year did bring us. Maybe you didn’t lose those fifty pounds, but you are a better person this year than you were last year by the lessons that you learned and the efforts that you made in making another’s life more pleasant. Maybe you didn’t save any money, but life happens and we can’t always predict what lies on the road ahead; but you kept a roof over yours and your family’s head and food on the table.  Maybe you didn’t go on that dream vacation, but you spent some wonderful moments with your significant other or your children.

We are not perfect, nor are we meant to be.  We are a work in progress and should focus more on how much we have grown as individuals, what we have learned and how our lives have been truly blessed rather than what we perceive as our own failures or shortcomings. That which makes us vulnerable also makes us beautiful. What we perceive as our weaknesses are not really weaknesses at all. They are a part of what makes us individuals.  They are a part that allows us to form friendships and relationships with others that can pick up where we leave off.  Be comfortable with who you are—look at how much you have grown as a person.  Don’t be so hard on yourself—no one is a failure. There is no such thing as a failure as long as we learn something from the experience.  Look back at your accomplishments just as often as you look at your goals.   Know that it’s okay to have to move to plan B, C, or even D; and just know that maybe plan A wasn’t really plan “A”. Each one of us was put here for a reason, don’t cut yourself short. Continue to strive to find what your reason is and continue to grow and learn about yourself and the world around you. Make laughter a daily activity. Allow your heart to feel love.  Enjoy your life and the New Year!