New Year’s resolutions are overrated.
Every year the Earth makes its formidable journey around the Sun and the moral imperative to declare war against 365 days of binge eating or poor budgeting rolls around once again.
We should start calling it a New Year’s suggestion, because most of them are boring and nearly all are made with little resolve.
A quick Google search shows only eight per cent of Australians actually keep their New Year’s resolutions – according to a largely unscientific ‘estimation’ by ‘experts’.
But this is an opinion column, so sue me.
When we look at New Year’s resolutions, most fall into areas of life improvement; from owning flatter bellies to saving money, quitting cigarettes, drinking or toxic relationships – to procrastinating less, becoming more polite and watching less TV.
Snooze. Boring.
And if people aren’t googling resolutions to make they’re googling how to achieve them in articles likely written by a guy in his mid-30s who still lives with his parents. He probably doesn’t even do his own washing.
I say out with resolutions. Forget resolve. Stay out late. Sleep in. Eat seconds. Say what you think. Look out the window at those people fervently exercising on January 1 and laugh.
Take risks. Be stupid, sometimes. Stop reaching for that ideal of perfection that has somehow been confused with living tediously.
Inspirational quotes are right, you are never too old to reinvent yourself but it doesn’t mean you should.
To sound dangerously like a Hallmark card, look forward to the new year and the craziness it brings. Don’t be afraid to embarrass yourself or fail to meet expectations.
Fresh starts were invented by people who want to sell gym memberships and those on the run from the law.
So this Tuesday, on a common non-leap year in the 2019th Common Era, raise a glass to being just that – common. Look forward to Eurovision in Israel and climb Uluru before it’s permanently banned.
Most importantly, worry less.
You’re doing just fine.
Madeline Link
Madeline Link is a journalist at the Newcastle Herald, with a focus on Lake Macquarie City Council. To keep up with my stories, follow my Twitter @madeline_link, for tips email madeline.link@newcastleherald.com.au.
Madeline Link is a journalist at the Newcastle Herald, with a focus on Lake Macquarie City Council. To keep up with my stories, follow my Twitter @madeline_link, for tips email madeline.link@newcastleherald.com.au.
