Is it just me or is there something about new year’s eve? It’s just filled to the brim with potential and the anticipation is magical.
No, no, I’m not talking about the pressure to make the night “the bestest, most fun night EVER” – I’m talking about the opportunity to reinvent and improve yourself with new year’s resolutions.
I’ve always been a big believer in the new year’s resolution. In fact, I’m just a big believer in reinvention altogether. I’m a big fan of getting an opportunity to try again. And at this time of the year I see myself as the phoenix, rising from the ashes to start over.
The way I see it, new year’s eve is like when you get to the end of that electronic game (I really had to think hard about how to refer to what I meant, you know, like are they still called “video games”?? Oh no, they’re not…).
Anyway, it’s like you get to the end of the game, check your score and then you get to try again and see if you can do better and beat your personal best. Sure you could be competing with others but I always find the true challenge with games is to beat your ‘pb’. To improve.
That’s what I love about new year’s eve: you take a moment to reflect on the past year, good or bad, with highs and lows, and think, How do I feel about all that? How did I go? What would I do differently?
The new year is tantalisingly close and you can see all 365 days laid out before you; free of any troubles or pain at this point, and full of potential to be great. The opportunity to improve is ripe for the taking.
Of course, in most cases people don’t really expect the changes they subscribe to, to be permanent. For example, you might make a resolution along the lines of, “I’m going to be fitter and more active”, but really, silently you’re adding “…for as long as I can keep it up!” to the end of that resolution.
The bonus comes when you actually find that one of the things you wanted to change or improve has not only lasted beyond January but become a new, fully adopted way of life.
New year’s resolutions are usually about improving your physical, mental or emotional health in some way. Whether that’s by taking certain actions, adopting new habits (or dropping old ones) or changing one’s lifestyle in some way. They can be serious or trivial, life-saving or simply life-affirming.
Yes, sometimes things don’t quite work out and you not only don’t beat your personal best but in fact, your score goes down. But that’s what I love about new year’s eve the most: at the end of the year you get to wipe the slate clean, metaphorically at least, and start over again, full of optimism and hope.
I like to look back and reflect on the year in a non-critical, non-judgmental way. Usually I’ve given a lot of thought to what I’d like to improve on by the time the end of December has rolled around. But this past month has been busy (hence the lack of posts!), so I’ll be doing all my reflecting once this evening’s festivities are over.
Whatever you choose to improve or change about yourself and your life, I wish you the best of luck. Hope in 2014 you get the bonus points and beat your personal score.
Oh and meanwhile, I’m going dancing!!
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