As the clock struck midnight and the confetti flew, I spent a second New Year’s Eve without making a single resolution.
I have plenty that I wish to improve on, change, make better or accomplish in 2012, but I have no need for making a promise to myself that I risk breaking.
As I skim through peoples status’s on facebook I can’t help but wonder what percentage of these people will actually stick with their resolutions. The biggest ones that I read about pertain to weight loss and “getting in shape.” While I think these are healthy ideas and good for mind, body and spirit, they are subjective in nature and more often than not, unrealistic.
When I see people who appear to be of a healthy weight and read that they are trying to lose weight I always wonder what for? Better yet, who for? If for self and you perceive yourself as needing to shed a pound or two for your own satisfaction so be it I guess, but why not just set a goal of eating smaller portions or less sweets, or adding in a few more walks? These are resolutions that are concrete, monitorable, and will help you achieve losing those few extra pounds.
I could go crazy if I read one more status update that reads; “so and so just walked this far, at this speed, for this long and will burn this many calories #burningthepoundsoff,” or “I want to lose this amount by this date #onadiet,” or “I am joining this gym and am doing this program #zumba,” stop announcing and JUST DO IT PEOPLE!
I just can’t or refuse to understand announcing your personal weight loss/fitness goals to the facebook community. As a competitive society, are we announcing these things to one up someone else? Have we become peacocks, instead of feather displays we spout off about our fitness plans? A tip from me to you, it is nice to receive encouraging words and a well earned pat on the back, but you wont get that through the computer screen and why not save the commentary for when people notice what you are doing- I imagine far greater satisfaction in hearing that someone noticed a change in you rather than broadcasting that you are attempting to create said change.
Maybe it is just me; and in all fairness it should be said that I have a huge issue with the definition of “skinny” and “fat” and an equally, if not huger issue with our collective perception on what the ideal look should be, be it weight, skin, clothing choices or otherwise, nonetheless, it disturbs me to see so many people obsessed with image and in writing this, I revealed to myself that I find it equally disturbing that facebook is a platform for telling the world what you are doing, when you are doing it and why.
We’re all guilty of it from time to time. But why do we do it? If we need encouragement, reassurance, conformation, can’t we turn to our close friends or family? Why is it we all spill our guts on facebook to perfect strangers? Are our worries, happy moments, and resolutions only real if stated on facebook? If we need to state for example our fitness plans and goals, why not create a facebook page? I’ll get you started, “Fitness- For Those Who Care,” then anyone who wants to share and receive feedback on these topics could have a forum to direct it at.
But I digress.
Deadlines, goals, and routines are important to set and are helpful for staying on track sure, but miss one day, hell, even one arbitrary hour that was set aside for something specific and suddenly you have failed yourself- or worse yet, if you’re like me, you assure yourself that tomorrow you will pick it up again, and then another day goes by and another and then you start thinking, well maybe by next year. What’s left but feeling discouraged?
A little over a year ago I unconsciously decided to break away from the pressure of setting certain expectations to improve myself by years end and made an effort to improve every day.
Every single day.
Whatever plagues me, whether it is my weight (eat a little less, walk a little more), the desire to spend more time with my children (turn the television off and get out of the house), or one of my favorite subjective resolutions, “to be a better person” (spend less time worrying about myself and my problems and put more effort into understanding others), I can work on these items each day without setting a deadline, or a specific day of the week, or an even more specific time of the day and instead can focus on improving a little every day.
At the end of the year I felt pretty good about myself and I am anticipating the same 12 months from now. Always room to improve and despite the up’s and down’s with every passing year, I’m still here.