It is 15 days into 2016 and new year”s resolutions have swarmed throughout innocent and optimistic citizens across the world.
By now, most of these resolutions also lay broken and wasted. That”s right. But not to worry, there is always next year.
What if there isn”t a next year though? The world has lived past its apocalypse a number of times, so the earth could explode at any minute. No worries, we”ll all die the same obnoxious people we were last year, having not bothered to try to become better this year.
If a resolution failed last year and it is resolved again this year, it is technically last year”s resolution. So, nothing new was gained. The person who set the resolution is more or less the exact same person they were a year ago. Lovely or otherwise.
Claire Whitley
This isn”t to say that setting goals for yourself is completely pointless though.
Nobody is perfect and everyone can always do something to better themselves. Stagnation is the first step to extinction. If the people of a society don”t change, the society doesn”t change and eventually stagnates and dies. Think about that while setting goals.
It shouldn”t take an apocalypse for people to realize that they can always work to be a better human being. There is always a charity organization that could use help, a stray cat that needs a little food or even a stranger who just needs a cup of coffee and someone to talk to.
That is the true purpose of making a new year”s resolution, to become better and to aspire to be the best a person is able to be.
I have only made a few resolutions that I hope I can accomplish. I want to do more for others. My situation is far from the worst there is, and if there is something I can do for someone, I want to try to help them. I also want to complete my research project and be accepted into a conference to present it.
Resolving to make yourself better or to try something you never tried before is admirable, don”t get me wrong, but slacking off within the first month and just giving up for the rest of the year seems like a waste. Make a resolution, and if you fail, start back up again, even if it”s in July. What”s that Chinese proverb? “Fall seven times, stand up eight.”
Just get out there and do the best to stick with the promise you made to yourself. That”s what I try to do every day.
Claire Whitley can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @Cewhitley.24