Why New Year’s Resolutions Should Be One of the Deadly Sins

Photo by Tarryn Myburgh on Unsplash

I’ve always been a calendar person — motivated and inspired by dates.

For example, I always told myself that I would quit smoking before I reached 40. True to my word, 3 weeks before my 40th birthday, I thought, “Time is running out, I’d better stop smoking,” and I did.

I’d made up my mind, and even the strain of being made redundant and losing my job a few days later didn’t drive me back to cigarettes.

Whenever I reach a milestone birthday or start a new decade, or year, or even month, I often set expectations for what I want to achieve in that period. However, I now see that my experience with not smoking was the exception rather than the norm.

The truth is that, in most cases, this practice of making resolutions only causes me stress and makes me depressed.

As every New Year rolls around, I have great expectations for the coming year. This year was no different. I posted the following quote on my Facebook timeline:

“The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written” — Melody Beattie.

It’s true … the new year starts with a blank slate, and we can write our own story — any story at all.