Lately I’ve been having a bit of a lark with Formspring, another in the endless line of social networking apps that seems to be all the rage. I like the concept – people ask questions (anonymously, if they wish) and you can then post your answers to your Facebook and/or Twitter account. Outside of the predictably naughty questions, including one fairly persistent person who keeps asking how big my areolas are (I’d follow this up with “wouldn’t YOU like to know”, but obviously you would!) – I’ve also been receiving several questions about my New Years resolutions.
“every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end”
I’ve always had trouble with the concept of New Years resolutions; they just don’t sit well with me because they feel so forced and obligatory. As I wrote in my post about finding inspiration, I’m much more a proponent of waiting for motivation to strike and then taking inspired action. It’s like the quote about spraying the hose in the house before the fire is there; in the case of resolutions, I see them like diving off a cliff into the icy ocean below. You might swim around for a while, trying to acclimate – but ultimately you haul yourself out of the water and run back to your familiar habits and habitat, the comfortable familiarity of the way things were before.
I remember reading that January is notably the busiest enrollment month for health clubs, rehab programs, and online dating sites. While it’s an admirable quest to start off a new year by improving your fitness, kicking unhealthy habits, and opening your heart to love, I can’t help but think that a lot of people take these actions out of a sense of obligation, rather than true desire. And it’s no wonder, then, that resolutions are notorious for being broken within the first quarter of the new year. Then what are you left with – guilt for not having followed through? Bitterness at the foolishness of making resolutions you weren’t able to keep? Depressed about yet another year of the same old, same old?
So here in Scarlettopia, I’m making a New Years prayer instead, and it’s as simple as can be:
I pray that 2011 will be an extraordinary year.
Not the best year ever; not some kind of improvement on years past. Because after all, every year that’s passed has made me who I am today. Mistakes and mishaps, foibles and faults, they’ve all contributed to the Scarlett who sits here writing this – and I’m pretty pleased with the woman she’s become. So there’s no point pinning expectations of improvement on the passing of the baton from this year to the next; instead, I just look forward to a year that’s full up with joyful moments, creative ideas, interesting people, meaningful experiences … the gamut of extraordinary in all its fine and fascinating forms. And in that respect, I suppose the only resolution I can make is to appreciate what comes my way, to “live life to its fullest”. It’s a lesson I became keenly aware of this year when my dad was diagnosed with cancer (now in remission), and my step-mom passed away only 3 weeks after her wedding.
You never know what the next year, day, or even the next moment will bring – so I pray my friends and loved ones (yes, that means you!) will resolve to make the most of them. Even if you’re indulging in il dolce far niente, the sweetness of doing nothing, those can be some of the best times of your life. Like the other night, taking a drive up north to a sleepy town nestled in the Tonto National Forest, where the stars are so exquisitely luminous, it puts an ache in your heart to gaze at them for long. Those are the moments worth living for, and the ones I want peppered throughout my New Year, adding new flavors and spice.
So here’s to 2011: raise your glass and toast the New Year with levity, optimism, and joy. May yours be extraordinary!
