The new year has begun along with the promises of fulfilling the highly anticipated “New Year's’ Resolutions”. The air is filled with hope and excitement. However, the majority of these resolutions will be dragged on for maybe 30 days, two months if you’re lucky. These resolutions are great, so long as they are actually carried through.
Gyms across the nation have skyrocketed member registrations as the goal to become fit has become a nationwide trend for the new year. This goal is great — for the gyms. This is due to the fact that New Year's resolutions tend to be broken quite fast, leaving people still panting after three flights of stairs and gyms subtracting money from their accounts without any participation from them.
Some people are able to follow through with their resolutions and some do need the new year as a push to actually begin working towards their goals. However, the New Year should not be the only time people work on goals they want to obtain. Every second is a new opportunity to begin the journey towards one's goals.
Consider the composition of a novel; chapters break up the storyline as it progresses, within each chapter is the development of the story. Each chapter does not necessarily have a massive progression that is earth-shattering,, but it contains bits and pieces of information and moments that contribute to the way the story ends. Now applying this to real life, each chapter can be compared to each moment of an individual’s life. Each moment lived is a step towards one’s future. The future you want can be created now.
I’m not saying you can simply think yourself into being Beyoncé; however you can take steps towards the place you want to be in. The crucial fact is: you are in charge of your own life. I, myself, tend to forget this and fall in line with everyone else. Nonetheless, it is so crucial to survival on this earth to remember that you are the only one in charge of yourself. Yes, if you are living under your parents roof you may have to live by their rules; however that does not dictate who you are as a person.
The point of New Year's resolutions is to begin the new year off on a good foot and attempt to be the better version of yourself that you always want to be. The predictable drop in commitment to New Years resolutions is the reason I do not believe in dictating the new year as a mark of recreating myself. Each day is a new opportunity to become the best version of yourself and I believe everyone should utilize these opportunities.
I have heard too many of my peers already stating that they “started off the new year angry.” The reasons for this anger more often than not being from brief moments of poor luck or poor judgement that will not matter come five days from now.
There is a rule, so to speak, that I discovered randomly when browsing one of the various social media platforms and it is the “will-it-matter-in-five-years rule.” Basically, this is a thought to consider in moments of defeat and anger (or other varied forms of negativity) by asking yourself “will it matter in five years from now?” If the answer is no, then you should not stay upset about it for more than five minutes.
I was instantly intrigued and, to be quite honest, frustrated by this rule. It had reminded me of all the time I would never get back from all the negative moments I let simmer before. Not to mention it had also revealed something about myself that I always knew was true, but no one ever likes to admit; that I wasted a ton of my time over futile moments. Of course, I did not know they were futile at the moment as I was blinded by my immediate reactions, which is why I understand this can be impossible in the world we live in. However, it sure is a good goal to try for.
Although I am not a huge fan of new year's resolutions, I do encourage everyone to try the “will-it-matter-in-five-years” rule. I encourage everyone to follow and create their own paths, and continue to build these paths everyday, even if its placing one brick down a day.
