People either love New Year’s resolutions, or they make fun of them.
I don’t know which person you are, but I fall into the first category. I love New Year’s resolutions.
Resolutions are fresh beginnings. And, I love fresh beginnings. I love the morning, the fresh beginning of a new day. I love Sundays, the fresh beginning of a new week. I love the Kalends, the fresh beginning of a new month. And, I love New Year’s day, the beginning of a new year.
My family and I live in an condominium community. We ended up here years ago when we fell on hard times. During those hard times, I became the onsite maintenance person for the community. So, yeah. People call me when they have plumbing issues. Or, when the college students are drunk in the front yard. Or, when some of the kids from other neighborhoods sneak around the property looking for bicycles to steal.
I’ve gotten to know almost everyone here. Of course, renters come and go, but, for the most part, I know the residents.
Often, at night, or early in the morning, I will walk through the entire complex to see that all is well.
Over the years, I have noticed a pattern. From about 5 or 6 in the evening, until 10 or 11, nearly all of the windows glow blue. This means one or two things. Either there are goblins nearby, or people spend a lot of time watching television.
So, what does this have to do with resolutions? Just this. I believe many people have given up. They get up in the morning, drive to jobs they don’t enjoy, then come home at night, turn on the TV and zone out. Next morning, they start over. On the weekend, they are out doing what they would really like to be doing. I see them bike out of the complex, strap canoes to the top of their cars and drive off, run, hang out by the pool with friends, grill out, read, work in their small gardens, play with their kids, and work on their cars.
In other words, during the week, the do what they have to do. On the weekend, they do what they like to do.
If, however, they would resolve to turn their TV’s off, and dedicate a few hours an evening to their hobbies, they could likely develop a secondary income by doing what they love to do!
We toss around the word resolution so much, we have forgotten it’s meaning. Resolution comes from two Latin words. The prefix re means back, or again. The verb solvere, means to loosen. A resolution is, literally, a loosening back.
Here is the idea. Let’s take one of the average condominium dwellers mentioned above. Let’s say he really wants to master grilling techniques this year. He knows he could impress his friends by creating some work class cookouts. He will probably tell himself that he can’t do it. He didn’t get the right degree in college. He didn’t go to culinary school. He can’t, can’t, can’t. He gives up and turns on the TV.
He gives up because he didn’t take the goal, break it apart, loosening it into small pieces.
If he watches two hours of TV a day, he has all the time he needs. Two hours a day equals 14 hours a week, 60 hours a month, or 730 hours a year! If we divide 730 hours a year by the typical 40 hour work week, that’s over 18 extra work weeks a year!
If he spends 18 weeks this year reading books on grilling, watching You Tube instructional videos on grilling, taking a local class on grilling, and practicing his passion… will he master grilling?
All he has to do, is take the original goal (he wants to become an expert at the grill), and loosen that goal into smaller pieces, implement those small pieces throughout the year, and he will reach his goal!
Don’t laugh at the people who resolve to do better in 2015. Join them. You have one life to live. You are going to die. We all are.
Do you really want to spend this priceless gift in front of a Television?
Do something with your life! Resolve to do something you have always wanted to do. Then take that resolution, loosen it, break it into smaller parts, and implement.
Next New Year’s Eve, you will be able to look back at what you accomplished. Maybe you will not reach your goal. Doesn’t matter. I promise… you will have made progress.
You know what will happen if you don’t try?
Nothing.
Turn the TV off. Start a resolution.
