What Happens With New Years Resolutions?

by Kimberley Thompson, Tastemaker in Residence

Never having been a person who likes New Year Resolutions (and yes...the words need caps) and having fully grasped the futility of my personality for change about 40 years ago, I had to snicker to myself when the subject matter came up around our Spirited Table®.
 
Really? Me? Write about making AND keeping New Year Resolutions?
 
I have not made, so I guess by default, never broken, a New Year's resolution in my adult life. It might be because I am a contrarian by nature, not wanting to do the "expected," or that I am not motivated by "magical" calendar dates.
 
I review my life and the past year's challenges around each New Year. Letting go, thanking God, counting blessings, lifting in prayer, yes. Resolutions...no.
 
In my life resolutions are constantly in a state of flux. Formed or not quite formed. Alternating from laid out like a road map with a scheduled stop here and there or perhaps by the seat of my pants following the asphalt to the gravel and back to the blue line roads. The moment to make a resolution for me is just after a learning experience, an awaking thought or confirmation from above that change is needed.
 
So, I operate under either a check list AND/OR "spin the wheel" thought pattern when it comes to resolutions. I have friends that argue that making resolutions are a sign of growth that hold you accountable and give you a goal. I don't disagree, but they do not need to come from the ashes of the past year.
 
It is not that I do not MAKE resolutions, I do. From the "I will never do that again" after I burn a finger sticking it in hot soup to see if it is hot, to picking the wrong lane waiting to enter 35W during morning rush, to saying a thoughtless remark and watching a friend's eyes sadden, to idly consuming a food that I know is NOT good for me.
 
I try to learn from these little "pop up" moments. Am I successful? I'd like to think I am but sometimes you just get in the wrong lane because it is WHAT HAPPENS. And experiencing "what happens" is not a reason to castigate oneself for "breaking" a resolution. Beating up oneself is not one of my recommended traits nor is trying to reach an aggressive goal without realizing it for what it is, an overly aggressive goal that may or may not be timed right for the month of January.
 
Where resolutions have a more "ah ha" moment is during the times when I ask myself "What did I learn from this situation before?" And hopefully my RESOLVE is remembered and I act accordingly. The memory of the result of an action is much more of a motivator for me than any list I could compile on January 1st.
 
So I do have a "running resolution" list? One that is forgiving of my human nature? One that recognizes change? One that opens the door to a changed life?
 
Yes and it is just NOT walking in with a baby in diapers.