There are 2 paths you can go by, but in the long run, there still time to change the road your on.
Have you ever taken a step back in your life and just reflect? It is always a common practice at the beginning of the year for everyone. Most people will do this and make some over-arching decree in an attempt to remedy the situation, so they will not face the issue next year. The new year’s resolution is normally a good idea. The intentions are typically good and it starts off good. But I would say that almost 100% of the resolutions are never kept. Why is this?
I have given it some thought. It is just an opinion, but I think it has something to do with our fears. The easily identified fruit on the end of the vine came from a complex root system, was fed by outside nutrients, came up through a massive trunk, through tons of branches, through scores of leaves, and ultimately produced itself for your observation. So one sees the belly fat and says, “I need to lose some weight this year. So it was easy to recognize the fat, but what is not so easy to see is your current emotional state, the level of stress, the turmoil of circumstances in your life, the changes in your job, your family relationships, and things like this. Is it possible that simply trying to change behavioristics is a shallow attempt to make deeper life changes?
I have always had problems with New Year’s resolutions because it seems that all the sudden everyone on the planet is not content with the way their life is going and they want to make a change. It just seems kind of silly. It is really setting you up for failure because it is being produced by outside stimuli (or can be), and really doesn’t line up with the way you really think of yourself.
You live the way you do because it lines up with the way you view the world and it really is you. You can try to cast blame on people, places and things, but the reason you live this way is because you want to and in some ways have to live this way.
If you want to make a change in your life, think for a minute, why are you considering this change? Are you seriously willing to challenge the way you view your world? Are you ready to make a core change? This is really the issue. Resolutions fail because 1) people do not really understand how deep of a change they are taking on, and 2) they really like who they are and the way they view the world and really do not want to change.
So how does this apply to the title? Actually we have been talking about it already. Many people are making decisions with the way the live. They are not making a conscious decision to be fat. It is a byproduct of a series of life choices that produce the well insulated body. In a resolution, we may be attempting to remedy the past, or make changes that will benefit us in the future, but we really need to be concerned with today. I am making this change because it reflects who I am today. I am making conscious decisions today because I am pleased with who I am and the way I am living today.
Here is an example. Tom goes on a diet on Jan 1 to lose 40 pounds. He is not happy with his weight and wants to trim down. He is on a track to lose weight for what he will look like in the future. He is willing to sacrifice today for the sake of tomorrow. This attempt may work, but he also may abandon the journey because it is not consistent with the way Tom feels about the present. You see the present if fighting with the possibility of the future. But this possibility has very little experience. It is really brand new on the job compared to this well seasoned present that has a lot of experience and bearing on the subject.
