Resolution Revolution
Many people start out a new year with resolutions: the things they plan to finally accomplish. "I'm going to lose weight", "I'm going to quit smoking" or "I'm going to travel" are common items found on the list...and the most frequently broken commitments. My list used to look a lot similar. I'd start out with a great goal, but then two to six weeks in, I'd have given up on it already.
This year, however, I had vowed to myself that it was going to be different. I wasn't going to make a list of things, either. I was going to pick one thing and stick to it. I gave myself some time to think it over. If I could do any one thing in my life, what was it going to be? What one thing could I devote myself to every day? Some people might have advised me to pick something close to what I was already doing, that way it would be easier to stick to. Knowing myself, I couldn't settle for something mundane. No, if I was going to put this much effort into something, it was going to be amazing. Even so, you'd think I'd have picked something reasonable and realistic, but...
This was the year I was going to become a Super Hero.
Some might say, "Why didn't you pick something like 'climb Mount Everest'? THAT would have been more attainable."
Well, they're thinking about it in the wrong way. What I had wanted was to be all the things I had idealized in my favorite characters. Those things weren't super-human powers like the ability to fly or x-ray vision. I wanted to be strong. Agile. Speak a foreign language. Those kinds of things. That's what I set out to do.
Twelve months later, just in time to make a new resolution, I have to say, "I won." I'm not a champion gymnast or a master martial artist, but I got somewhere and somewhere is progress. I stuck to my goal. I started, and then stopped, running and weight-lifting, but I continued yoga and kick-boxing. I went every week. It's a start. I even lost a little weight. I found the things I didn't like and I adapted into things that I found enjoyable. The most important part of the story is I learned that I really CAN do it and stick with it because the REAL goal was whether I could keep that commitment. And I did.
I, Amber Monaghan, am a Super Hero.
This year, however, I had vowed to myself that it was going to be different. I wasn't going to make a list of things, either. I was going to pick one thing and stick to it. I gave myself some time to think it over. If I could do any one thing in my life, what was it going to be? What one thing could I devote myself to every day? Some people might have advised me to pick something close to what I was already doing, that way it would be easier to stick to. Knowing myself, I couldn't settle for something mundane. No, if I was going to put this much effort into something, it was going to be amazing. Even so, you'd think I'd have picked something reasonable and realistic, but...
This was the year I was going to become a Super Hero.
Some might say, "Why didn't you pick something like 'climb Mount Everest'? THAT would have been more attainable."
Well, they're thinking about it in the wrong way. What I had wanted was to be all the things I had idealized in my favorite characters. Those things weren't super-human powers like the ability to fly or x-ray vision. I wanted to be strong. Agile. Speak a foreign language. Those kinds of things. That's what I set out to do.
Twelve months later, just in time to make a new resolution, I have to say, "I won." I'm not a champion gymnast or a master martial artist, but I got somewhere and somewhere is progress. I stuck to my goal. I started, and then stopped, running and weight-lifting, but I continued yoga and kick-boxing. I went every week. It's a start. I even lost a little weight. I found the things I didn't like and I adapted into things that I found enjoyable. The most important part of the story is I learned that I really CAN do it and stick with it because the REAL goal was whether I could keep that commitment. And I did.
I, Amber Monaghan, am a Super Hero.