A Resolution Regarding New Year's Resolutions

New Year's resolutions make me feel like this:

via GIPHY

I am a goal setter, if not by nature, than certainly by training. My parents had me and my siblings setting goals and making plans when our only objective in life was to take as many naps as possible on any given day (...still a main objective, I realized as I typed that).

I love me a to-do list. Checking off those little blank boxes fills me with glee. And it's nice getting into bed each night knowing that you're a little closer to achieving your goal than you were when you woke up that morning.

But New Year's resolutions feel like a whole other ballgame, Mr. Jeter.

Something about New Year's resolutions feels completely overwhelming. There's so much pressssssure. Your whole life could change! You could achieve anything you want! It starts this year! This day!

And yet. Everyone knows that you will not achieve your New Year's resolutions. Gyms are back to being near-empty by January 15th; that piece of chocolate cake smells just a little too enticing; waking up early loses its savor. "How many of you are still keeping your New Year's resolutions?" someone mean-spirited asks the audience in March, and you shuffle your feet and hang your head in shame.

Not you.
Not me.
Not anyone.

New Year's resolutions: 1
Humanity: 0

I think what frightens me most (aside from the crushing feeling of immediate failure and defeat... #wompwomp) is the feeling of immense impossibility that seems to arise every time I try to put together a list of what I want to do differently in a given year. I try to list two or three things I'd like to change, and next thing you know, wham! splat! I've made a list of two or three hundred things that need to change now! Immediately! Call the police!

The drama!

But do you know what I mean? It's easy to be overwhelmed by all of the things you can change and all of the things you want to achieve. It leads to a paralysis of the brain and a distinct feeling that you belong in the dumpster with the rest of the hobos.

But this year, I'm doing things differently. I've decided to take the New Year's resolutions bull by the horns and avoid the frustration that comes from trying and failing to New Year's resolute. (Not a verb, but should be?) Instead of writing down New Year's resolutions, I've decided to create a New Year's vision.

Here's how I'm seeing this going down:

Step 1: You take a sheet of paper.
Step 2: You write your vision on the sheet of paper.
Step 3: You tape it on your mirror.
Step 4: You look at it on the daily, while you're brushing your teeth and such.

And when you make your weekly and/or monthly goals (which I like to do, because then I am not overwhelmed), you consult your vision to make sure that your goals align with your vision. Are you following me?

Why bother? Because living with purpose matters. And so does working for something important, and living for others, and doing each day deliberately. I don't want to reach the end of my life and find that someone else could have done my life as well as I did. There are things in my life that only I can achieve, and I don't ever want to lose sight of what I can create if I work for it.

"Where there is no vision, the people perish," is what the Old Testament has to say about that.

So to close this lengthy epistle, I'd like to share with you a part of my vision. It's a vision that's been in the works for a while now, and I'm still tweaking. As of now, it has three parts that reflect my priorities at this point of my life.

In 2016, I hope to be a woman who is:

• faithful to her God and to promises she has made with Him;
• a kind, trustworthy, and forgiving daughter, sister, and friend;
• committed to learning, to contributing in meaningful ways to her community, and to making the lives of others better.

I've got so far to go, but I can't lose sight of the person I want to become. What's the point of making goals and plans and New Year's Resolutions if you don't know what you're working for?

So.

2016.

I am ready for you!