"Just a Thought" Column continues in La Prensa SA, 1-12

Just a Thought: New Year’s Resolutions
By Steve Walker

Now that we are in the swing of things for the New Year, it is time to make New Year’s resolutions. Or do we?

How many times throughout the years have we purposed to make resolutions to lose weight, get a new job, travel and spend more time with the family? At least my generation has attempted that in past years. I am a baby boomer.

As I get older I make less of an effort to “make resolutions.” I have come to the realization I tend to fall far short of those pronouncements of determination. Whether it is a proclamation to diet, exercise or just take better care of myself, I always seem to miss the mark and then feel bad about it for the rest of the year. That in itself is discouraging.

How can I purpose to change my life for the better if I can’t even stick to a regiment of smaller portions, more physical exercise and a plan to increase my financial income by getting a new job or at least a pay raise?

Since I am currently unemployed, a pay raise is obviously not in the cards as a viable option for me. Finding employment at a more mature age has proved to be a daunting scenario to say the least. Just because you resolve to accomplish it doesn’t necessarily mean it is going to happen or at least any time soon. Part of making resolutions is setting reasonable expectations.

The main ingredient for making a resolution I have come to realize is expectation.

Looking back to last year for example in my own life, I have reflected numerous times on my expectations for the future, based on the past. With all of us at some time or other we have many unresolved situations in our life that simply resolving to change our circumstance can be complicated and be so much more than just a resolution.

Granted making a resolution is but the first step into making that resolve a reality. Without trying to make a simple New Year’s Resolution into a major hoopla, we continue to re-evaluate our lives and give it a try to do something different for a different outcome.

Remember Nobel Peace Prize recipient Albert Einstein coined the adage “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, is insanity.”

Having said that, something tells me that people, year after year will, make an attempt, however strong or feeble, to set goals for  themselves for the upcoming year. As disappointed as I am in myself to successfully follow through on the resolutions I have made over the years, I know in my heart I will try again this year and all the years I have left on the planet.

Maybe this year it will work. I can only hope. Since my resolve again is to eat less, travel more, get a job and make more resolutions, the end result will hopefully be different. No more insanity.

And as always, what I write is “Just a Thought.”

Steve Walker is a Vietnam Veteran and former Justice of the Peace and Journalist.