So how are the 2016 resolutions doing ?!

A couple of weeks ago, I met a friend of mine at the gym.
"So you are still sticking to your resolution? Working out and all," he said.
I raised my hands, as my eyebrows arched. "Hey, it's just the 5th of January today...I'm going to stick to my resolutions this year."

Well, that was about 3 weeks ago. That's 21 long days. Now we are almost at the end of January. I had a long list this year. And a lot of the words on that list are hazy already. What are resolutions after all? A promise to make ourselves or some aspect of our lives better. And we do this every New Year's eve. We don't really have to, but it's a tradition now.

According to a research study, 30 percent of New Year resolutions are broken in the first week and 85 percent before the end of January. Ninety three percent of New Year resolutions involve losing weight.

So why not make easy resolutions for a year and then go on to the more tricky ones. Here are a few suggestions (for 2017) of the easy ones....!

*Want to look thin and fit? -- Find new, heavier (read-'plump') friends. Or fatten up current friends. As one of my friends once said, it's all relative...!

*Want to drink less alcohol? -- Hang out with people who drink more than you do.

*Don't want to think too much of the past? -- Just worry about the future.

*Want to save Mother Earth and conserve water? -- Shower once, twice or thrice.... a week, depending on how much you love Mother Earth.

*Want to be socially popular? -- Stop telling the same jokes over and over and over......

On a serious note, we all wish to improve ourselves and our lives, hence the resolutions. But to stick to a resolution, or any objective we want to accomplish, we have to be disciplined. Discipline to stay on course, to stick to your plan, and that eventually becomes the bridge between goals and accomplishment.

"Every worthwhile accomplishment has a price tag attached to it. The question is always whether you are willing to pay the price to attain it -- in hard work, sacrifice, patience, faith and endurance." ~ John C Maxwell
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It's "Resolution time" again .....!

Every year, around this time, I make a list of things I'm going to do starting with the brand new year. The list is easy to make, as there are numerous things I would like to improve about myself. Usually by the time I'm done, the list is about 2 pages long. By the time I'm on my 15th resolution, I've already forgotten the the first few.

This year, I thought let me pull out my list from last year. I had been smart enough to save my list of "Resolutions" on my laptop. Well, I thought to myself, I'll just scratch out the resolutions that I kept last year, and add a few new ones. As I went down the list from last year, I couldn't think of a single thing that I followed through with! I know that's embarrassing, but I'm not going to lie. So I took a deep breath and looked at the line at the top which said "Resolutions for 2017".... and then I scratched out "2017", and put in "2018." So I recycled my resolutions and had a list ready for next year in no time!

Here's a few things from that list.....

Be more romantic...... (put in by my wife) since our marriage, this has always been the number one resolution every year...... I'm still working on it.

Exercise regularly....... and if I know a certain friend of mine, I'll be in trouble if he doesn't see me in the gym on a regular basis.

Buy lottery tickets at a luckier store...

Work seriously on my next book..... that's one resolution I plan to stick to and finish up an overdue project.

Try to be kinder, gentler, sincere...... no matter what the social clique dictates or requires. In doing so, try to be a better person overall.

Grow more hair...... What? Where did that come from? I know that's a lost cause.......!

On a serious note, making resolutions is an effort to make ourselves and our lives better. This is one time of the year when we can peek inwards and admit to certain things that we could do better, and others that we could do without. No matter how well life is treating us, there's always room for improvement. Good luck with yours and I do hope somewhere on the list is "Spending more time with family and friends." Because no matter how much time we spend with our family, we could always do more.

"Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man." ~Benjamin Franklin


Here's wishing you and yours a wonderful 2018!!

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