I reject New Years Resolutions.
Sort of.
It's at this time of year I think about Adrian Mole and Bridget Jones - although any suggestion that they have had any influence on me should be dismissed immediately. Please.
There is a long-standing tradition of making New Years Resolutions. I can understand why. Really, the changing of the year is an entirely arbitrary event. It has no proper connection with the natural order of things, although a cursory glance at nature suggests that the concept of a year is absolutely correct. It is convenient to distinguish between years, and to mark the start and finish, and why not now?
I do not have any problem with resolutions. One of the most admirable qualities of human beings is when we strive for betterment. Our resilience when we fail is something we should all be proud of.
But that is exactly why I feel uncomfortable about New Years Resolutions. I can see the point of using times like this, or one's birthday, or the start of a new season, a new job, a new term, a new appraisal year, as a time to take stock and vow to do better.
NYRs are merely an exercise is setting ourselves up for failure. Two of the most common NYRs are to lose weight and to give up smoking. I feel that I can speak of both with some authority. Which is why I think they both stink as NYRs. All the expert advice of giving up smoking emphasise the importance of choosing a time which is right for you. This could be before or after surgery, on a journey, on return from holiday. It shouldn't be before a time of stress, such as exams, and it should be undertaken with careful planning. Despite this advice, there is a pressure to give it up of almost moralistic fervour at this time of year. I don't think I'm unique in resenting being told what to do; the sight of TV and magazine ads, however fleetingly, as I fast forward or turn the page, are sufficient to put my back up and force me to stick two fingers up, unladylike at the world.
As for the weight-loss thing, I believe in general that a balance has to be struck. I reject the misogyny of a capitalism that decrees that the only beautiful woman is a thin woman. I especially reject that aspect of it where some women - and, worryingly, young girls - are led to believe that their self-worth and their value is measured by how thin they are. I get bored very quickly by people who perceive themselves to be overweight when all the evidence suggests otherwise; I pity people with an obsessive knowledge of the calorific value of hundreds of foodstuffs. And I tend to fall asleep when diets are being discussed. HOT NEWS Diets don't work. Have you ever noticed how many different 'diets' there are, and how they come and go in fashion. If there was a surefire method for losing excess weight and keeping it off, there would be no need for all these ridiculous faddy diets.
Actually, there is one way guaranteed to lose excess weight and keep it off. Namely eat a little less and move around a bit more. This is something I care passionately about. To be honest I don't weigh myself, but I have a pretty accurate guide to my body, whether clothes fit me. There are a number of good reasons for me to lose some bulk. It cannot be doing my heart any good to be larger than I ought to be. And if I expand further I shall have to spend good money replacing clothes that are perfectly good but almost don't fit me.
I imagine it would be very simple to lose some bulk. By eating a little less and moving about more. I am bad that I eat a lot of food that has very little nutritional value except 'empty calories'. If I cut out all the sugary things and the alcohol (and moved about more) I would lose weight and bulk. Simple. Except that it isn't. I could do this obsessively for a month or six weeks. Then something would happen and the kilos would go back on.
We are currently in the middle of winter, with the harshest weather yet to come. So, in my opinion, this is not the time to be contemplating weight loss. I can see the attraction following the season of gluttony and indolence, but I shall wait until warmer weather.
However, rather than making a New Year Resolution, I resolve frequently to be a little more organised. In this way, I am not setting myself up for failure. I haven't broken my resolve if on one particular day I sit around in a state of self-indulgent pampering. I have a list of chores that should be done on a frequent recurring basis. If left to fester, they become daunting and forbidding. Isn't it better to do just a little. Rather than vowing to Spring clean the house, if I spend just fifteen minutes now and again (multiple times a day at stay-at-home days, maybe just once on a workday) addressing one particular room or corner of a room) I move forward and achieve something. Same with loss of weight/bulk. I don't have to join a gym - and what can be more mind-numbingly soul destroying than wasting valuable leisure time in a gymnasium? but if I walked a bit more, in the right place, with the right shoes, it would be life-enhancing. I am surrounded at home and work by parks that I rarely visit. I really enjoy swimming, but there is always an excuse not to go...my most pathetic one is that my hair is expensively dyed and won't withstand repeat exposure to chlorine. Who says one has to get one's hair wet when swimming? And if the result is that I have to go the hairdressers more frequently, maybe that isn't a bad thing.
So I hereby resolve not to make any New Years Resolutions but to live my life in critical self-appraisal and follow through my good intentions and bright ideas with actual action.
