It's a brand new year....commit to change!

Photo from Reddit.com

So, it's 2015.  Remember Marty McFly in Back to the Future?  If everything in that movie were true, we'd be driving cars through air and teleporting through time and space but instead we have a world of iPhones, plastic surgery and cell phones with tracking devices in them. Also, let's add a side note that actor Michael J. Fox is going to be 52 this year so yes, most of us Generation Xer's do feel somewhat 'old' at this point.  But that's not what this article is about, not at the very least.  Every 365 days we primitive humans make promises to ourselves to change something about ourselves, to improve and clean up both our inner and outer selves to make us appear more attractive to those around us.  Resolutions and such are great to have but they are easily and usually most times broken due to the fact that we don't have enough time for them, they're too difficult or other things take precedent over the resolution in question....this is what Mary Poppins would have called a 'Pie-Crust Promise: "easily made, easily broken."  So here's the question, why in the world to we set ourselves up for failure every single year with empty promises that get lost in the shuffle of everyday life.  Then at the end of the year, we're even more depressed because things didn't pan out like we wanted them to in January?  And who made up this stupid tradition in the first place?  Have patience and all your questions will be answered:)

Photo from Disneydose.com

Making resolutions actually has a religious connection.  Babylonians celebrated every March 1st for a ten days with a festival in which they made promises to the Sun God in hopes they earn good favor about the coming year.  So yes, you can blame these guys for your failed gym attempts over the years.  Well....not really, lol.  So again the questions remains, why do we do this and then agonize about following through?  One of the mistakes we often make with these promises to ourselves is accountability.  If you keep it a secret, absolutely nobody is going to check up on you to see if you follow through or not.=], so basically, it's an empty sense of hope you've handed to yourself.  The first thing that you need to do with your resolutions is tell people what you are going to do and have them check up on you.  I mean, let's be honest...no one really likes these things but we do them because sometimes we want to better ourselves, not only for us but for our significant others, our friends and family as well.  Be held accountable is a great way for your to be able to finish what you started.  The second thing really is a no-brainer:  find something that motivates you to change. If you want to lose weight, find a buddy or workout with your boyfriend/girlfriend.  If you want to quit a nasty habit, don't do things that perpetuate it....i.e. hang around people who smoke or keep sweets in the house.  Why stoke the fire?  You may as well not even go through the hassle of making a resolution.  Lastly, COMMIT!  See your goal through and I'm sure at the end of the year, you will be amazed by not only how accomplished you feel but also how others view you as well.  People will tend to treat you with more respect because you had the tenacity to follow through on something that most people don't.  Be proud of the bumpy road that you start out on because one shouldn't focus on the end result but have fun taking the journey.

Dale and I:)

So, what are my resolutions you ask?  Well, if I made them;), I think one of them would be to continue to practice gratitude with not only other people but also with myself.  To be forgiving of my mistakes and flaws because when it all comes down to it, I'm human like everyone else.  I also plan to continue to work on my physical fitness and personal training career as well.  I hope to continue to perfect my job as a Spinning Instructor and become a positive force for my clients to confide in.  And probably the most important for me is to continue to love and cherish the love of my life, my boyfriend, Dale.  These past four months have definitely been an adventure and I cannot wait to see what 2015 has in store for us as a couple.  I couldn't ask for a more considerate, caring and awesome guy and now that I think of it, I never really have talked about him in print before so I guess this is me going public!  No matter what 2015 brings, I know this.....I will act as a whole-hearted individual to everyone, practicing gratitude, embracing joy and laughter as well as not focusing on the negative so much because most of the worrying is all in my head to begin with.  And to always remember that at the end of the day that everything is going to be OK.

HAPPY NEW YEAR KIDS!!!!