Dear Tina,
A new year is supposed to be about new opportunities, a new perspective, and discovering a new way to fit in an hour at the gym before or after work. Which I have been told only angers actual gym goers who suddenly have to wait in line for an elliptical when last week they could have have worked out with each leg on a different machine and used another as their coat rack. You know, the way you do with the one in your bedroom.
But what has always been a bit frustrating for me is the timing of the New Year fresh start. It’s still winter. We’re technically still in the holiday season. And if you honestly want to tell me that the cure for my New Year’s Eve hangover is an early morning jog followed by a trip to the grocery store inspired by my new South Beach Diet cookbook (who knew eggs and almonds were so versatile?), I am going to counter with “Have you ever tried a bleu cheeseburger?” It’s just not a good time for me to really reconsider some of my lifestyle choices.
This is not true for everyone. Hats off to my friend who has been cigarette free since the start of 2010. But I’ve always found that New Year’s resolutions are kind of like going to rehab. If you do it before you’ve succumbed to the necessity of the change, then you’re setting yourself up to fail.
Now I tend to put a lot of focus on eating right and exercising when discussing New Year’s resolutions. That’s because I’m a woman and the two concepts are synonymous. (Raise your hand if you or a woman you know has given up chocolate for lent. Exactly.) Sure New Year’s resolutions can be as diverse as our great planet—eye roll—but my point remains the same. It’s cold outside. And no matter how good you are at tricking your brain, with the lethargy of eating baked meats with your extended family carrying over from last month, and the inevitable malaise we experience in trudging through the next 3-6 months, the new and improved you you envisioned on New Year’s Eve is going to have a tough time surviving.
Pessimistic or realistic? The question I imagine those closest to me ask most frequently.
So what is the solution? Whatever plan you have for yourself, start it on January 10. Why? Because if you fail, you didn’t fail your entire year. It’s just that thing that you did for a little bit and then decided to stop. And if you do succeed, if you do lose 30 pounds, if you do start volunteering more, or figure out how to french braid, when you began the journey will almost be irrelevant. Like the old saying goes, “It’s not the journey, it’s the destination.” Er.
Also, January 10 is a Monday. All well-conceived plans begin on Monday. Like Canadian Thanksgiving.
30 Rock Quote of the Day:
Liz: Jack, what makes a guy get bored in a dating situation.
Jack: That’s an excellent question. The answer is: questions like that.
Dear Tina 