I’m not a fan of New Year’s resolutions. I always make the same ones and the only thing I succeed in is failing to keep them. Another year passes and I kick myself in the realisation that, had I kept them, I could now be rich and thin and dripping in bling. I could now be a much nicer person, bunnies hopping at my heels and bluebirds swooping in my perfumed wake. (Too much Snow White in the car over Christmas?)
So can I make this year different? Here’s the plan. This year resolutions are OUT and ‘taking the trouble to’ is IN. I am resolving (eek, that full-of-pressure and guilt-laden word) to enrich my life by taking the trouble to do things that my broad, lazy behind often thinks aren’t worth the time or effort. These can be small things (take the trouble to use the milk frother as even though I hate cleaning it I do love some froff on my coff) or large (take the trouble to devote five minutes a day to promoting world peace etc etc etc).
What I’m trying to do is make resolutions with no attached guilt. Consider it a little trickery of the mind. I’m tricking myself into believing my new year’s resolutions are all about choice and reward and not punishment and denial. (The hippy sex of resolution-making rather than S&M.) By ‘taking the trouble to’ I’m giving myself the chance to choose to be kind to myself and do something good. No shoulds, no self-flagellation, just a gentle nudging in the right direction. One direction is fine but choose the other and it could be oodles better. No pressure.
So this year I’ve no list of resolutions to keep. Instead, when I’m being too lazy or too mean or too darned pigheaded to do something that will bring positive consequences, I’ll be reminding myself to ‘take the trouble to’. I’m reckoning on getting a whole lot more done and being able to look back on 2012 and see my broad, lazy behind whipped into shape (and I’m not talking butt blasters).
Happy New Year!
