With
the arrival of the year 2014, I’m sure we all plan to make some changes. I can
still hear myself saying, “This year there are going to be some changes around
here.”
So
what is the top resolution for 2014? Well, according to Statisticbrain.com
number one is the age-old favorite to lose some weight. That’s understandable.
After eating all the left-over Halloween candy, enjoying all those Thanksgiving
meals, and the snacks, treats, and dishes associated with Christmas, I bet most
people have put on a few extra pounds. Of course, I’m like most people, so that
was one of my resolutions. Along with promising my doctor, I’d get some
exercise and get healthy or at the very least healthier. That shouldn’t be too
hard. Should it? I’ll just change some of my behaviors. That should be easy.
I’m
sure we’ve all tried to change some behavior in our life we wanted to be shed
of. Sometimes it’s something so ingrained in our hearts and minds that we
simply can’t manage to extricate it from our lives. Our best efforts fail, in
some instances … repeatedly. Ah but isn’t that why humans are called creatures
of habit. We like comfort, and our habits are the pacifier that sooths our spirits.
We enjoy our habits because they make us who we are.
Statisticbrain.com
tells us that only 38% of those individuals that resolve to lose weight will
achieve their goal. They also state that by the first of February, 36% will
have fallen by the wayside. Why is that when only thirty two days ago we were
all so dead set on making a change?
When
we decide to overcome, one or more, of our proclivities, we wage war against
what is normal for us as individuals. What we want to do is exact some change
on ourselves to become – hopefully – a better person. We would like the
transition to be an easy one, but sadly change is never easy. Change is really
about waging war against one’s self. It’s about launching an attack against the
subconscious mind and forcing the brute to cease and desist those less than
acceptable acts we so cherish. If we are steadfast and victorious, we will win
the day and cast off the garment our habit has clothed us in. But be wary.
These attacks can have devastating after effects should we fail at our
endeavors.
Some
late night when we should be in bed, our stomachs will growl, and we’ll decide
to go exploring. “What’s in this cabinet? What’s left over in the fridge? Do I
smell cake? Is there ice cream? How did these potato chips get here?” Then we
find ourselves sprawled out on the couch with icing on our face and empty
potato chip bags at our feet. We feel bad. We feel defeated. We give up because
it’s just too difficult to exact a change. What we should do is shake it off.
Get back up on that treadmill and tread upon that meal. It’s not over until you
decide it’s over so don’t quit. Change is never easy, but if you make a habit
out of taking steps to eliminate a habit soon enough you’ll be enjoying a new
habit associated with a new you. Hang in there you can do it.
