New Year's Resolutions, Bah-Humbug

By Edythe (Dee) Dunn, MA, LPC

Is it “that” time again? When you realize that you started out the past year with expectations (great or otherwise) and they didn't materialize? Your commitment melted with the snow. Your grand plans the mock your status now. How wonderful. Not. Perhaps this is one reason the New Year's celebrations can feel like millstones around our necks.

What if you tried something different this coming year? What if you took a different approach altogether? Instead of pointing to another planet and vowing to reach it by a giant leap or even a bunch of hops, what about approaching your heart's desire a little more “organically?” I'm not saying that the planet isn't worth reaching, but I'm not saying it is, either. How would you know? You haven't been there before.

First of all, pick something really meaningful. Do you really care if you weigh this number or that? Or do you want to feel good about yourself? Do you really need a specific dollar amount in your bank account or do you really just want to feel secure in your future? Maybe it isn't being on that planet that you want, but rather, you want to feel better about being on this one.

Once you know what it is you really want, you can actually make it happen by asking yourself a single question whenever the opportunity arises “Does this choice move me closer to what I really want or does it get between me and my heart's desire?” W e as human beings always move toward what we really want. We just don't always recognize what that is. Often, we look outward when the answer is inward.

Consider the coming year if you aren't really sure what it is you want, or where you want to lead yourself, perhaps it would be helpful to explore that first. Why waste time aiming for something you really don't want? Why waste another year chasing what you don't allow yourself to have?

Think about that and give yourself a real gift this year the gift of self-acceptance and the path of success because that will give you far more happiness than what you've been doing. It's true – or you wouldn't be reading this. Right?