Do We Really Need to Change Something Every New Year?

I had a new year conversation with him and he asked me about my New Year’s resolution. I told him I honestly don’t have anything in mind. He got a bit nettled because he presumed I either wasn’t in the mood to spend time talking with him or I was hiding something. But really, it’s been many years since I stopped thinking and, probably, believing in new year’s resolution for some reason. 

On a personal note, change is something sacred to me. Change, for me, takes a long-term process to decide. It’s not something that can be casually listed in just an hour or two over a sky of colorful fireworks. It pre-requires adequate self-reflection to locate exactly where we need some upgrade or refinement. 

But just like most of you. I once believed in the magic of new year fresh starts. There also came some time I got super excited to come up with a list of changes I wanted to implement to myself for the new year. But the real deal was keeping up with the commitment, which unfortunately, became a huge challenge for me. I really couldn’t keep up with even one thing on the list, perhaps that’s why I easily gave up on this. It’s easy to write, but when the time for action comes, it becomes dreadingly hard.

  

So instead of forcingly squeezing a new year resolution out of my brain during Media Noche, I shifted to listing several goals I’m looking to attain for the new year. And I think, it’s way more effective, especially in generating self-motivation and driving away the anxieties creeping in my mind.

  

For me, setting our minds toward specific goals engenders a constructive domino effect. As we pave our way to attaining these goals throughout the year, we get to experience a lot including the chance to assess ourselves for a particular moment and detect if there’s a need for a change. Anytime of the year, we can change when we’re surely and genuinely ready. We just have to admit that something within us is marginally going out of our way and we need to get over it. We can take it in a flash or gradually, our choice. It’s only a matter of eagerness that roots from the deepest room of our hearts. 

  

Thus since then, I stopped thinking about changing something in my way of living, interacting, and more just because it’s a new year. I change only when my heart sees I really need it. 

Photo Credit: Antonio DiCaterina