Posted by Anne

It’s that time of year.  It’s the time we pledge to kick bad habits, improve our quality of life, and generally become more productive individuals.  As much as I love lists, I’ve never been particularly great with New Year’s resolutions, and I think I know why.  You see, part of the reason I love making lists is so I can cross them off.  And it seems that the prototypical New Year’s resolutions are almost totally un-cross-off-able. 

For one thing, resolutions always seem to be long term.  “Lose weight in 2010”.  (Great…can’t cross that one off until 2011.)  And there are other problems with New Year’s resolutions.  We make them hard.  And last but not least, we make too many.  Or at least I do.  When you set goals, you should set reachable ones…which I rarely do come January 1^st.  Psychologically speaking (which is how I sometimes speak), we’re motivated by success—not failure.  So when we concoct impossibly challenging resolutions (work out 5 times a week for every week of 2010!), we set ourselves up not just for failure, but for a serious dip in our motivation to continue trying. 

So why do we do this to ourselves?  Set ourselves up with unrealistic resolutions?  We (or at least I) resolve to be not just thinner, but more creative, more graceful, more culinary, more religious, and any number of resolution-worthy qualities.  I’m puzzled by this need to become somehow better than we already are each and every January.  What is it about the New Year that makes me want to feel so totally and utterly together?

There are probably numerous reasons, but let’s start with one rooted in pop culture…in our society’s belief that we need to do, and be, more.  Watching TV the other day, I realized how annoyed I was by a certain series of commercials.  Perhaps you’ve seen them.  Sadly, I have no TVo, and so I’m treated every 10 minutes to the series of Electrolux commercials with Kelly Ripa.  Take a look…enjoy the parade of cultural expectations wrapped into one shiny (and really irritating) commercial. 

Nothing against Kelly Ripa, but this commercial bugs me in a big way.  And I think it’s because it represents (to me) every New Year’s resolution I’ve ever made—wrapped up into a 30 second flurry of domestic activity.  Efficiency.  Really stellar gourmet cooking.  A rockin’ career, and rock-hard biceps.  It says I can be “even more amazing”, if I could just move quicker.  There’s just one problem…

I don’t want to. 

I don’t want to move quicker, or do more.  I don’t want to add more chores to my life.  I want to simplify.  Trim down.  Slow down.  And sometimes, when I’m bombarded with images like that one, I forget this about myself.  I forget that I want to make a New Year’s resolution I can actually meet.  I want to succeed, and I want to set the right resolution for me—one that speaks of living a life I can manage and enjoy. 

So this year, I have one resolution…just one.  And it’s really not so much a goal as a way of living.  Will I cross it off?  Time will tell. 

In 2010, I hereby resolve to be the opposite of that annoying commercial (when time allows).  I resolve to cut down on multitasking, and attend to ONE experience at a time.  Whatever I’m doing, I will try to do it as well—as thoroughly—and as presently as I possibly can. If I stink, so be it.  I will still try.

Happy New Year everyone!  Do you have a resolution?  Or do you skip the resolution business altogether?