INEWORD P

New Year’s Revolution

“For last year's words belong to last year's language. And next year's words await another voice.”

Little Gidding ― T.S. Eliot

New year, same me. Because I am awesome or not?

Every year, everyone around the world makes New Year's resolutions, expressing how they could improve the following year, what goals they have, and what they want to achieve. It's astonishing how a minor change in the calendar, which is based on a random man-made measurement of time, can elicit such strong feelings, generate such joy, and function as a catalyst for positive changes in one's life. Is it more like imagining a great outcome and then describing it in words, or is it more like everyone enjoys "visualizing" success in phrases?

For as long as I can remember, I have always witnessed all my friends make New Year's resolutions, either because it made them happy or because it was a fun school activity before winter break. It was always something like: "I will exercise more," "I will take better care of myself," "I will improve my grades in the new year," "I will save more money," or "I will lose weight." I also remember myself making New Year's resolutions... I remember writing specifically, "I will take care of myself." I really believed that if I wrote it down on paper, I would magically feel better, do better, and just be better in general. But just because everyone looks to be writing reviews and discussing them seriously by the end of the year, does that mean the next year will bring big decisions and modifications? What a deception! New Year's resolutions with lofty aims are frequent, yet they almost always end in disappointment.

Without exaggeration, the motto "go big or go home" is often associated with New Year's resolutions; it seems reasonable that the former should involve some degree of opulence or extravagance. Let’s say, to maximize their effectiveness, New Year's resolutions should be as lofty as possible. In fact, if you could only make ONE New Year's resolution, it would be to become the next Cinderella, after all, the glass slipper was made for you no offense to prince charming, who doesn’t have an instrumental role in the story! I won't stomp on your imagination until you've reached the pumpkin, but I will tell you straight up that, despite the blithe optimism, there is actual evidence that the act of writing down New Year’s resolutions can improve one’s success rate in achieving them. To be honest, I'd rather sketch the glass slipper! On the other hand, I’m thinking that it's possible that many people genuinely lack the capacity to comprehend how to make goals that are reachable. They know how to define a goal outside of the fairytale zone, how to keep it simple in the mundane everyday life that lacks sparkle. It's feasible that the greatest resolution for them would be to start figuring out how to attain it.

As for me, I am refusing to make my New Year’ s resolutions! The prospect of someone writing down on a piece of paper their goals and then