News

New Year

Happy New Year to everyone. In many ways, a new year brings hope for brighter days. For some, it’s the beginning of the end. How, you may ask? Gone are the days of rich foods, parties, feasts, and unreasonable resolutions begin to fill the brain. There is a tendency to start out like gangbusters, making mental lists of all the improvements desired. The reality of implementing every single one sets one up for defeat. It is very difficult to try to change too much at the same time. Yes, the good intentions are there, but we are humans and can only do so much. You may wish to make one or two resolutions and stick to them. Good luck to all who opt for this plan. One thing that works for me is to make a one day resolution. My self-control needs help in the worst way, and by making this for a single day, I can more easily do that. The next day, I re-up for the same plan and so on. Before too long, three or four weeks pass and it is becoming a habit. If it becomes routine after a couple of months, I add another resolution and do that one a day at a time.

It is pretty much a universal trait that when we fail, we beat ourselves up and feel terrible for being a “loser”. By streamlining changes and/or introducing them a day at a time, there is a whole lot less to beat about our shortcomings.

Good luck with your hopes for the New Year, regardless of what they are. Maybe you will try to get more sleep, speak in a softer tone, eat a fruit a day, take a walk. Be positive when everything seems like it is overwhelming, enlist a support system for like-minded friends or family etc, and remember, if you fall off the today’s wagon, tomorrow is another opportunity.

Pat