Column: The trouble with new year's resolutions

New year.
New year, not so new meNew year, not so new me
New year, not so new me

Same old me.

There is a point in this world of constant reinvention that you have to give in to several facts of life .

One unsavoury reality is that it doesn’t matter how much weight you lose, kindness you dispense, how hard you work, how much money you accrue, how high faluting your lifestyle or how successful your glittering career - you are pretty much stuck with you.

So you might as well like it.

Or at least try.

Which is why new year’s resolutions rarely work.

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There is nothing wrong with having a target but to say most are unrealistic is an understatement.

We just end up letting ourselves down.

The road to happiness does not lie with comparing yourself to other people, something it has taken me decades to accept - and I’m still working on.

After all it is something the retail, beauty and fitness industries rely on for sales - particularly to women like me. They pit us against each other in a harshly fought race that when push, comes to shove, comes down to genes, personality,talent and a lot of luck.

Hard work helps, of course, in making life a success - but it is still your life.

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I, for one, have accepted my strengths and weaknesses, instead aiming to utilise them to the best of my ability rather than wishing otherwise.

It doesn’t matter how many times I make a gurning face in the mirror, those fine lines still appear.

And no matter what filter I use for my selfie on Instagram, I’ll never glow like those supermodel types in real life.

And I’ll certainly never master the willpower to avoid crisps and have thighs like a gazelle.

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My bank account will probably never stretch to my dream home (though I haven’t given up on that one just yet) and I’ll almost certainly never go into space, but I’m OK with it.

(Though if any space programmes would like to get in touch, I’m right here..)

That’s not to say I don’t have aspirations, dreams and ambitions to better myself - it’s just that I’m accepting if I get there, I’ll still be flawed old me.

Like it or not.

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