Resolutions: So easy to make, so hard to keep

They're a great idea, and a holiday tradition – just like decorating Christmas trees, sipping eggnog, baking Christmas cookies with sprinkles on top, or singing carols. It is easy to create them, yet so hard to follow through with ... those New Year's resolutions.

It's a brand new year and starting fresh, shaking off the dust of the old, hoping for a better year, a better you, and embracing transformation is right up there with transforming the house with Christmas lights and decorated stockings. Funny how things sound good in theory, yet prove difficult when attempting to put them into practice. Most resolutions are set with sincerity, enthusiasm and interest, and fall by the wayside due to the passage of time, the difficulty of the resolution, or even forgetting what those resolutions were, as life becomes busy and complicated. 

The question of why they are so hard to fulfill intrigued me, so I turned to my friends to get the word on what makes it so difficult to keep these resolutions. I pondered them myself initially, and agree with the rest of the world, that making New Year's resolutions is a very good idea, but keeping them is a whole other ballgame.

My friend Carl shared that his prescription for success came through planning, and commitment to the self-made resolutions. My friend Deb agreed that the best of intentions can get swallowed up by a busy life that has you juggling many priorities at once. Her remedy – simplicity, a one-word resolution, that is written down. My friend Terri sets aside the word resolutions and replaces it with intentions. She scrutinizes her past, to see if any progress has been made, and then on New Year's Day writes in her journal the direction in which she would like to head in the future. 

I think some of the best ideas came from my friend Larry, when he told me the story about his son becoming an Eagle Scout. His son really wanted to be an Eagle Scout, but as the deadline drew nearer, he started to hesitate, it seemed unreachable. Larry told his son to sleep on it, give it some deep thought, and that he would be supported whatever the decision. In the morning Larry talked further with his son, and asked him, "How do you eat an elephant?" The answer to this symbolic question is, "One bite at a time." Larry's son became an Eagle Scout. 

At Unity Spiritual Center we believe God is everywhere present, that you only need to invite Him into your planning, your journaling, your future, your intentions/resolutions, and even your hesitating or uncertainty. Resolutions are easier to achieve if they are formed with self-honesty, come from your heart, and are memorized, or written on cards, a vision board or a journal. God, your Higher Power, will support you in making and keeping those resolutions, just ask!