A New Look At Resolutions

With the new year comes new beginnings, opportunities, and adventures.

School-wise, students are heading back to school until spring break and starting the second half stretch. Soon, teachers will start to focus on AP and IB test material and students will get back in gear. Or, the opposite will happen ... seniors will get a case of senioritis, the disease of underachieving since many of us have now been accepted into college. Whichever the case, we have to get back to some sort of routine after a nice winter break.

With the new year, some people also make resolutions. Go to the gym, be nicer, get better grades, stop smoking, get into college. Personally I don't believe in resolutions. Whatever the resolution and however dedicated the person seems to be, it seems that by spring, the resolution is forgotten. I think that instead of trying to make a change starting on the first of the year, we should try throughout the year to identify areas of our lives that can be improved and work through them one by one.

Short term goals are easier to keep. Instead of a general “be nicer to people”, which can be hard to define and carry out, say “this week, I'm going to do something nice for somebody every day”. Instead of “get better grades”, say “this marking period, I'm going to raise my grade in math class”. By achieving these obtainable goals, we may feel like we’ve accomplished more and have a greater chance of improving our lives through these small changes. So make a resolution to not make a resolution. Or make a resolution to make tiny resolutions throughout 2012.

Of course it’s always good to try to improve ourselves, but we should be evaluating our lives and trying to improve ourselves all throughout the year, not just on January 1st.