With a new year can come all kinds of promises, resolutions and unrealistic expectations:
“I will go to the gym four times a week.”
“Absolutely no more snacking between meals.”
“ I’ll stop eating chocolate/ arguing with my sister/ doom-scrolling/ buying clothes that I don’t actually need/ dancing because TikTok tells me to…”
Almost always, we have broken these resolutions by the time the Easter eggs are on the shelves in Sainsbury’s (that’s January 2nd in case you were wondering!)
Perhaps then, we should shift our focus: instead of depriving ourselves of something we enjoy or making demands that we do something radically different at the start of a new year, let’s reflect on what makes us feel happy and try to do more of it. Let’s learn what brings us joy and try to make more room for it. Let’s understand how we make a positive impact on the world and aim to do plenty of it. We simply can’t fail at trying to be better.
“New year, new me” is a flawed theory that doesn’t work. You take yourself with you into every new year, just as you must and just as you should. By the way, please be thankful for that fact as there is more beauty and wonder in you than you will ever truly realise.
So, let’s start from where we are and aim to keep growing towards who we want to be… and the exciting thing about that is: we get to do it EVERY day, not just at the start of a new year.
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.' Chinese Proverb
