New Year's Resolutions...... yeah right!

             The fun times of Thanksgiving and Christmas have now passed. Now is the time to go to work! All of 2013 was not the time to start living better because we were all waiting for 2014. New workout regimes, better eating habits, improving relationships and embarking on new endeavors couldn't happen at anytime during 2013. None of this makes any sense, does it? Well, that's how New Year's Resolutions work. I never understood why people waited to better themselves until the beginning of a new year when they had all of last year to do so. By no means am I saying don't have a plan for the new year or set goals for it. I'm saying you shouldn't wait a whole new year to do so. If you need to lose weight, you probably needed to lose that weight way before Thanksgiving or Christmas. If you need better organization in your life, I'm sure that pile of randomness on your kitchen table needed sorting before Halloween! Plus, do we really stick to these drunken promises we make to ourselves as the clock is striking 12? "Yeah man, I'm gonna do it! I'm gonna run 5 miles everyday!"Well on January 1st comes the disappointing realization that you can't even run a quarter of a mile. So, you give up. You don't even try to work up to a full mile.
           Now, I don't come to be Antagonistic Ashleigh, but more like Realistic Rene. Set goals for yourself, realistic, obtainable goals. Last year I tried to hold myself to one blog post a week, I honestly didn't do that. This year my goal is to stick to it. It's not like I didn't have a blog page then decided to post a blog a week. I already have a blog, a practice in doing them and it's something that I enjoy. So, a blog a week is ultra obtainable.
          But, for all of those die hard resolution fans I give you these tips to keeping them. Set a goal for a short frame of time. You want to lose 30 pounds by the end of the year. Break that up by every three months or every month. Trying to keep up with results and sticking to your plan for a whole year may become discouraging. Secondly, have a support team or person. Put someone in place to encourage or scold when needed. Holding all of the responsibility of your goal or resolution puts extra pressure on yourself, spread it around. Last but not least, don't beat yourself up when you slip back into old habits. Us church folk call that backsliding. Instead, correct it and keep it moving.
          Though the idea of resolutions elude me, I do believe you should go into every year with an open mind. Go into the new year with optimism and a sense of accomplishment. I know most people want to make the beginning of the year the time they decided to be better people, but there's plenty room to do that year round. Don't wait for the new year to become a new, better you. Do it in June and July too. No matter when you decided to do it, just do it! And remember, in this new year, be kind and kindness will find you. Happy New Year!