By Staff
I spent some of the day Saturday looking up information on resolutions and came to some funny quotes about the New Year's tradition.
According to author F.M. Knowles, “He who breaks a resolution is a weakling; He who makes one is a fool.”
And then, from my favorite literary legend, Mark Twain, “Yesterday, everybody smoked his last cigar, took his last drink and swore his last oath. Today, we are a pious and exemplary community. Thirty days from now, we shall have cast our reformation to the winds and gone to cutting our ancient shortcomings considerably shorter than ever.”
The history of making New Year's resolutions is about as old as the act of counting years, and almost as old is the act of breaking those resolutions.
For me, I have no idea what to resolve for the next year.
Could I lose weight? Absolutely.
Could I make a promise to curse less, go to church more, be more charitable or drive the speed limit? Yes. Without a doubt.
But, then there is the guilt associated with breaking the resolution just weeks (or minutes) into the new year.
Wouldn't it be better on your mind if you simply didn't make a resolution in the first place?
Probably, but then what is the fun in that?
In years past I have made resolutions and held them throughout the year.
I have put forth challenges for me to confront in a new year and then overcome them.
So why can't I figure out what to resolve this year? It may be there are so many things, the simply act of singling out just one is overwhelming.
Every new year is exciting. It is the idea of a fresh start and unlimited potential.
Then again, I've decided to give up the stress of deciding on a New Year's resolution and that is a relief.
Happy New Year.
Tim Reeves is publisher of The Alexander City Outlook.