January 1, 2015 - Written by: Becky Solomon

Happy, No Resolutions!

So I didn’t fulfil my plan of spending this New Year’s somewhere awesome, outside of my home town and not going into panic mode about where to go and how to spend it. In fact, this year my New Year’s Eve will most likely be spent in my house, trying to stay awake until midnight whilst munching on a takeaway.

There is so much pressure to make New Year’s Eve the ‘best night of the year’ and, this year, I think I’ve finally made peace with the fact that it doesn’t have to be.

How the night is spent is no indication of how the year will pan out.

It’s the same for New Year’s resolutions. We think the beginning of the year will be the perfect time to start anew, when we could make changes to our lives at any time throughout the year and we do!

I decided that I wanted to stop making New Year’s resolutions that never come to fruition.

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I mean, they are often really big commitments and you can’t know what’s about to hit you round the corner.

If there is something you have always wanted to change about yourself and you think this year will be the year, then by all means go ahead. But don’t kick yourself if it’s hard and you decide not to continue with it half way through the year.

Why?

Because we often get fixated on things, believing that if we achieve it, it will make us happy and we will finally feel content. When, really, we will just move onto the next thing that we think will give us eternal happiness.

‘If I just loose half a stone, I’ll be fine… If I just get that job everything will be okay…’ Will it? No! Everything comes with problems.

How many people have you met who have said, ‘I don’t need anything more in my life’? I’ll bet it’s not many, and if you have, it was probably someone who didn’t even have very much. Unfortunately, I believe that’s to do with the world we have been brought up in.

Have a think, how many times have you ever felt truly content, when, in that moment, you weren’t longing for anything else?

It doesn’t happen often, and when it does, it’s not always from having achieved something. It’s often from sharing a moment with a friend or a loved one, when you feel blissfully happy and nothing else is needed. Sometimes I get it sat on my own in my room listening to a really good song!

Achievements are important, I feel they are an integral part of building your self confidence, but they might not hold the key to being happy.

Appreciation of what you have just might, though.

If you look at the bigger picture, you can see what you can achieve without even feeling like you have tried.

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To think, I started this year not even knowing some of the people I would consider myself the closest to. I had two new jobs, which I wasn’t expecting, and two new homes. I’ve had to motivate myself to continue with things that I’ve always wanted to do, but that don’t come easily to me (such as learning a new language).

I’ve done things I’ve been terribly afraid of and I’ve let go of people who didn’t have my best interests at heart. I’ve spent less time in front of the TV, and more time getting out and doing things, something I’m particularly happy about. Yes, so I might get a little tired at times, but for the experiences I’ve had and the people I’ve met – it’s totally worth it.

New Year’s resolutions can be good to give you something to focus on, but just don’t miss all the other wonderful things that are going on around you that weren’t part of the plan. Bring on the unexpected 2015!

If you enjoyed this article, why not check out ‘A New Year, A New Adventure‘?