“If you asked me for my New Year Resolution, it would be to find out who I am.” -Cyril Cusack  

Every year, promises are made at midnight on the first day of January, but in a month or so the promise will be forgotten or broken…or not. Marking the beginning of a fresh start, New Year’s Day symbolizes a time of redemption and rebirth of one’s goals. One year might be a goal to do better in school and achieve your dream grades, the next is to workout more in order to attain your dream body, and so on and so forth. New Year’s Resolutions are meant to give that oomph or slight shove on the back towards your “finish line”, but how can you reach that line if you’re never finished?

When I make resolutions, I’m hoping to check box off of my lifelong bucket list, but I’ve learned resolutions aren’t simple to achieve and are usually fruitless. I’ve never kept a New Year’s Resolution, and I understand the difficulty behind it. 365 days of trying to accomplish the same goal everyday of keeping the same goal sounds unreasonable and laborious. The idea of maintaining the same goal is absurd for two reasons; first, change is inevitable and second, the list of goals will be endless and typically unachievable.

Change is the whole point of the New Year’s Resolution, but when making it remember your ideas of what you want to achieve, and your goals might change drastically. Experiences throughout the year can change one’s view on their definition of success and change leads to motivations moving in a new direction. Trying to coerce yourself to stick to a resolution takes the excitement out of the experience. That excitement is part of the motivation too, so killing one part of your motivation will just lead to the death of your whole resolution. Quitting a resolution is acceptable for anyone, as long as they make a new one for the goal they want to focus on, even if the goal is to just cherish who you are at the moment.  

My parents always tell me to never stretch myself to thin, and I sincerely attempt not to. However, I make mistakes, as all humans do, and I might be involved in too many activities. Making resolutions at the beginning of the year can be the same way. Trying to accomplish all of your goals, like I used to do, will never be accomplished. With change, new goals will always pop in and out of life, and you’ll be running around in circles. Focus on the goals that are attainable and don’t apply too much pressure to your life because the other goals will always be there no matter what day of the year it is. Goals are meant to lift us up to the top instead of dragging us down to the bottom. If you’re brought too far down, you’ll drown and you’re meant to succeed and go up high while reaching for the stars. In 2019, make sure you enjoy your New Year’s Eve because it lasts for one day of the year, while your resolution should last for the whole year.