New Years Resolutions

  |   Patricia Tiernan

New Year

 

 

New years resolutions, when I hear the word I get an automatic feeling of guilt. Guilt for all the resolutions I have uttered and then failed miserably to see through. My resolutions have always been the bog standard, give up smoking and loose weight. Each new year, I would verbally punish myself for being in this place again but hope upon hope that somehow this year just by saying it they would work, it never did, until last year.

 

Instead of saying what I should be doing, I asked myself ‘What do I want’? and “What will that do for me?” . I wanted to be healthier, I wanted to feel more energetic and I wanted to have more disposable income and if I am brutally honest I wanted my clothes to hang nicely on me.

 

Instead of thinking of the whole year as an ordeal to get through, I pictured what I would be like and how I would  feel. I pictured what I would do with this new found energy and confidence and how I would sound. I liked what I saw and I wanted it because it made me feel happy and proud.

 

I gave myself small targets to meet along the way. Literally I stopped smoking one day at a time. I kept telling myself I don’t feel like one today. As each day, went to each week, I was prouder and prouder of myself. I told my friends and family a few days in and their awe and encouragement helped me to continue. As I had more energy I sought something to do with it and took up yoga. And it also made me feel good. Giving up smoking helped me to believe that anything is possible if you just set your mind to it.

This year don’t beat yourself up for what you should be doing, ask yourself, “What do I want to do in 2014 and what will that do for me?”. Keep it positive and if you don’t get a kick out of what you see, maybe it is not what you really want. The good news is you have control of your thoughts and your actions and you can change the picture and the outcome!