New
Year’s resolutions worth effort
keeping
Krystle
Ralston
It is a brand new year. After the champagne bottles are empty, the fireworks
have been extinguished and the confetti has fallen, it is back to reality with
a new number at the end of our date.
We as a society pick this time more than any other to make a change in our
lives. Tobacco companies groan. Gym memberships skyrocket. The resolutions
made by people everywhere vary from not beating up their little brother anymore
to eating more vegetables.
All of these decisions have the potential to make a positive change in people.
But sadly, these vows are made easily and in turn can be easily broken. After
just a few weeks, most people forget their resolutions for a change in lifestyle.
Right around the beginning of February, the gyms get quieter and the person
who stands right next to you at the bus stop everyday is lighting up again.
It is human nature to go back on our word and because the promise is made to
ourselves, not someone else, we don’t consider it as significant.
My own resolution last year was to donate my hair to Locks for Love, an organization
that makes wigs for cancer patients out of human hair. A close relative undergoing
treatment inspired me to do this and it felt good to say the promise out loud.
The rule for donating hair is it must be at least 10 inches long. February
came and went. OK, not so bad. By March and April, my hair kept growing and
so did my impatience. When May came around, I was ready to hack it off with
a kitchen knife. But I didn’t because I wanted to do this not just for
myself but for people out there who felt they had their beauty stolen.
When they finally did cut my hair off, I almost cried. And I must admit, at
that moment I didn’t cry because I felt good about what I had done. It
was because 11 inches of my hair were gone and were not coming back for a very
long time. But then, I sealed it up and sent it in.
Not long afterward, I received a certificate thanking me and letting me know
my contribution was in the works to make a head of hair for a young girl. There
are not many things that kick more ass than knowing you made someone’s
life, which was once seemingly full of pain, just a little brighter.
A New Year’s resolution is a promise and you owe it to yourself to keep
it. If you decide not to max out your credit cards, don’t.
If you want to stop drinking, do it. Have a friend or family member hide your
Visa or your Jack Daniels. If you are still afraid you will crack somehow,
lock your unmentionables in a box and send it to Switzerland.
Even if you are one of the few people who manage to follow through with their
resolution in the New Year, you may think you made a mistake, or contemplate
going back on your decision. Don’t bother so much with second-guessing
yourself and focus on the accomplishment you made.
It is an incredibly simple concept people decide to make complicated. It is
difficult to give up the things you are co-dependent upon, but the euphoric
feeling you receive from following through on your decision, no matter how
small or big it may be, tastes way better than that cigarette you used to say
you’d give your right arm to have.
Krystle Ralston is a senior journalism major and the calendar editor of
the Daily Forty-Niner.
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