New Year's Resolution or Broken Promise?

To resolve or not to resolve… that is the question! Every year we all take the opportunity to symbolically start another year with a clean slate. Many of us reflect on the past year to assess whether we had a good year or not. Did we accomplish or goals? Did we fall short?

And then after we’ve evaluated, we make new determinations to either further our progress or reattempt to accomplish the goals we failed to reach in the previous year. But what is the true meaning of a resolution?

The verb form of resolution is “resolve” which in this context means to “make a firm decision about.” The adjective of this is “resolute” which means to be “marked by a firm determination” as well as “bold and steady.” Unfortunately, it is this aspect that most people fail to recognize which leads simply to a lot of broken promises. To truly be resolute about something means that failure is not an option. The key is to properly make worthwhile and reasonable goals that we can be resolute about.

If you’ve made a determination to improve your health, to improve your diet, exercise more, improve your finances, get a promotion, buy a house or whatever you’ve concluded will add value to your life then you must be “bold and steady” until you achieve your goal. If doesn’t matter if you have a bad day, week, month or several months. Things in life weren’t necessarily meant to come to us easily. The reason is that God uses life, experiences and opportunities to improve us as individuals. Trying to avoid hard work, strenuous effort or struggle is as futile as trying to never make a mistake. If we can see the underlying growth that changes our being every time we “miss our target” we would come to understand that there is no such thing as a mistake.

Legend says that Thomas Edison learned 99 ways to NOT make a light bulb before he succeeded in finally making a workable bulb. Of course he met many people along the way that would either assist his efforts or try to deter him from reaching his goal. Either way, the resultant light bulb was just the natural conclusion of focused effort and resolve. The true value of his success lies in the changes in his character, strength of will, faith and personal growth.

Each of us has within us an infinite source of power that is able to achieve any goal in life. When we connect to the higher Spirit within, we find the resolve, the determination, the strength, energy and clarity to steer towards the desired result. Too often we give up after a few tries and because we don’t have our goal fall into our lap we decide we can do without or we don’t really need to hit our target. As stated previously, if you intelligently decided a goal was worthwhile and reasonable then you shouldn’t give up simply because you didn’t succeed in the hoped for timeframe. Every failed attempt makes you wiser, stronger and more capable.

God wants to use your newfound abilities to not just benefit yourself but to help others around you. But if your resolution is selfish and only to benefit yourself then any success you achieve will be short lived. Believe in yourself, reflect continuously on your progress, keep your eyes on the prize and don’t stop till you hit your mark! Be grateful for the struggle you experience in your journey and know that it will make you better when you reach that next plateau. Don’t allow your resolutions to merely become broken promises you’re doomed to repeat over and over again. As you move further in life don’t forget to help others when you have the ability because in truth you are only helping yourself! “When you give a shilling to a beggar - do you realize that you are giving it to yourself? When you help a lame dog - do you realize that you yourself are being helped? And when you kick a man when he is down - do you realize that you are kicking yourself? So go ahead and give him another kick... but only if YOU really deserve it!” Wei Wu Wei

Ultimately, the only significance in New Years is the symbolism of a “new beginning.” However, to be truly resolute isn’t about what decision you make at the beginning of the year. It’s about your resolve each and every day that you wake up. Have that sort of drive and focus! “To succeed, you must have tremendous perseverance & tremendous will. ‘I will drink the ocean’ says the persevering soul; ‘at my will mountains will crumble up.’ Have that sort of energy, that sort of will, work hard and you will reach the goal!” Swami Vivekananda