Let's Rethink Our Resolutions

If we kick off 2025 the right way, maybe we will have nailed it by Lent.

We know it’s not 100 percent true, but it’s been said that Lent is the second chance at New Year’s resolutions.

During Lent we imitate Jesus, who left everything behind and went into the desert. New Year’s resolutions are typically vows to amend some of the behaviors we wallow in all year or let get way out of hand between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Resolutions often include keeping to our budgets, drinking less, eating healthier or sticking to a specific diet. 

“The tradition of making New Year's resolutions stretches back nearly 4,000 years, originating with civilizations that marked the new year as a time of renewal and reflection,” nationalgeographic.com reported.

I remember the year my husband and I went to a New Year’s Eve party. We were stationed in Germany at the time and the party was upstairs in our building. I won’t say the host had a drinking problem, but that night he did vow to cut back on his drinking.

He wasn’t a drill sergeant, but just about every sentence he uttered was filled with curse words. That night his resolution included cleaning up his language.

What followed was pathetic. Before the night was over, he had gone back to his old self— drinking and cursing — in spades. Like a person partying the night before going into rehab, he seemed to have kicked his drinking up a couple of notches.

For some reason, he went into the hallway. He subsequently fell down the stairs, spilled his drink and got up cursing. Guests, many of whom never believed he’d be able to keep his resolutions snickered. I wondered how long it would take the rest of us to break our resolutions.

Some experts say the biggest barrier most of us face when setting out to achieve goals such as New Year’s resolutions, is that we don’t enjoy doing what we are committing to doing. 

“Thirty percent of American adults made at least one New Year’s resolution for 2024,” Pew Research Center reported in January 2024. “Half of that group made more than one goal for the year ahead. Young adults ages 18-29 were the most likely to make New Year’s resolutions.”

According to the Pew report, health was the top topic, with 79 percent of those surveyed making resolutions related to health, exercise and/or diet. Other leading topics were money and finances, personal relationships, hobbies or personal interests, and work or career.

Time magazine lists the top 10 broken New Year’s resolutions:

• Lose Weight and Get Fit 
• Quit Smoking 
• Learn Something New 
• Eat Healthier and Diet 
• Get Out of Debt and Save Money 
• Spend More Time with Family 
• Travel to New Places 
• Be Less Stressed 
• Volunteer 
• Drink Less

So, f you have bitten off more than you can chew (no pun intended) with your New Year’s resolution, try to hold on for a couple of weeks anyway. The second Friday in January is known as Quitters Day — the most likely day for people to give up on their resolutions.