Resolutions Revisited Michele Reeves

Resolutions Revisited

By Michele Reeves

Four thousand years ago, the ancient Babylonians held a festival to reaffirm their loyalty to the king, to pay off debts, and to promise to return all borrowed objects. Nearly 2,000 years later, the Romans paid homage to Janus, the god who occupied all thresholds, for similar reasons. Janus is two-faced, one facing the past and the other facing the future, and he is symbolically watching for the promise of good behavior in the coming year. Similarly, the Christians of the early 1700s used the first day of the year to reflect on past mistakes and resolved to be better in the coming year. Today, New Year’s resolutions are more secular and personal and meant for the purpose of self-improvement. Having said that, it is also a fact that resolutions have a higher failure rate than marriages.

New Year’s resolutions have a success rate of less than ten percent, so why do we even bother to make them in the first place? We live in an age of immediate gratification, and that transpires into the mistake of expecting overnight results with our resolutions. Whatever the resolution may be, people will give up if they’re not seeing instant results. Resolutions require will power and dedication over an extended amount of time; it doesn’t matter if that dedication or commitment is to better ourselves, we have gotten to a point where we are afraid of commitment. Perhaps this underlying fear of commitment is the reason for failing to keep New Year’s resolutions. After all, a resolution is the decision to do something or to stop doing something, and commitment is the act upon that decision; therefore, making a New Year’s resolution and keeping it are two different things. So, it makes sense that resolutions have about 90% chance of failure, making the decision to change is the easy part, the difficult part is acting on that decision for the rest of the 364 days.

Most people resolve to lose weight, get fit, eat healthier, stop smoking, learn a new skill, or to stop procrastinating. Such resolutions require strong will power and commitment, and the intent is to change a lifestyle. However, a resolution doesn’t have to be about you. Why not put a positive, more effective spin on your New Year’s resolutions by making it about others,

others who could really use your help? Resolve to volunteer, to recycle, to mentor, or to be charitable with your time. These types of resolutions don’t require will power or all-out commitments. All communities in and around Gallup need volunteers, tutors, environmentalists, etc. There are many organizations that need help from people of all ages and skills. Relay for Life, the Community Pantry, the Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Habitat for Humanity, Battered Family Services, the Humane Society, Gallup Youth Soccer League, TDFL, Gallup Cultural Center, Gallup Ceremonial, and local chapter houses are only a short list of ways to help our community. There are so many ways to help us all improve.

So, instead of resolving to learn a new skill, why don’t you teach someone else your skills. Instead of resolving to be active enough to lose weight, be active by helping out at an event or refereeing a youth game. Instead of resolving to stop smoking, spend more time outdoors by helping to clean up the local trails and public spaces or helping to build a home. Most people make resolutions to improve themselves. The great thing about volunteering is that you are improving yourself and improving the community at the same time.

You meet people, make connections, learn to network, become active, pick up new skills or hobbies, and have fun while volunteering. In the end, it’s a win-win and that equals 0% failure. Meanwhile, for all the procrastinators (including me) who have resolved to stop procrastinating, heed Benjamin Franklin’s words, “You may delay, but time will not.” Later, we can have a festival to celebrate loyalty to one another and the progress we’ve made—together.

(Morning Sunrise in Mentmore, NM)