As the New Year approaches, I begin to contemplate about my own resolutions regarding it knowing in advance that they will be broken or to be precise ignored after few weeks into the New Year.
As far as I can remember, I always enthusiastically made resolutions concerning my health, my career, my interactions with my fellow human beings, my conduct in general and about every aspect of life. Nonetheless, I kept only few ones.
For the last decade or so, every year, I made the same resolution of not penning down my resolutions for the New Year. Even that easy one, I succeeded in breaking. That led me wonder why do I bother to make resolutions being certain that I will break them. I was also curious about from where did I get that habit.
During my early teen years while I was living in Egypt, we didn't make any New Year's resolutions. We embraced the New Year with its ups and downs without bothering to exert any efforts to take control of our lives during it.
Upon arriving to my new home in Canada, I realized that all of my classmates and acquaintances were putting emphasis on New Year's Resolutions as a fun activity to do. To avoid being singled out and to blend in, I followed suit.
At that time, for few years, I felt ashamed that I lacked the well power to stick to or keep my resolutions wondering if I was exaggerating in making them.
Fortunately for me, accidently I discovered that many of my classmates were in the same boat of ignoring or failing to keep their New Year's resolutions.
Joining the normalcy of conduct pertinent to them, I went on a mission of exploring people's views regarding New Year's resolutions in an attempt to figure out the reasons that prompt individuals to make them knowing that they hard to keep.
Some people did them to acquire hope for a better life in the New Year while others did them to establish objectives or goals for the new year that might prompt them to work hard in order to achieve them. Most made them as a routine to use as an ice breaker in conversations with their peers.
Of course, there were those who kept most of their resolutions. For certain, they gained my utter admiration and respect along with my envy for having the perseverance and resilience to stick to them.
Asking them about their secrets for being able to keep their resolutions, they emphasized that they were objective and rational in establishing them.
Requesting further elaboration from them, they stressed the fact they were realistic in estimating their capabilities and limitations in accomplishing the hard task of making their New Year's resolutions.
During my teaching assignments, I used to request that my Chinese students would make them and I did follow-ups to see who was able to keep their New Year's resolutions. Most of my students enjoyed the activity.
If you had failed in keeping your previous New Year's resolutions, don't feel bad. You are among friends in the club of failures in keeping them. However, if you succeeded in sticking to them, we sincerely applaud your well power and determination.
Regardless of the outcome of your previous attempts to keep your New Year's resolutions, you ought not to give up. However, you should attempt to be realistic in establishing them to avoid the disappointment of breaking them. You need to acquire sufficient courage to avoid exaggerating your capacities and minimizing your limitations or shortcomings.
This year, on December 31st, we all, without exceptions must share establishing one essential resolution which is "To be moderate in our drinking habits and to avoid over-indulging in celebrating the New Year to have a safe and joyful event."
Finally, regardless of whatever you are planning to do, I wish you and your family a Very Happy New Year. May the New Year grant all of you excellent health, exceptional success and ultimate happiness.
Holding an honorary professorship from China, Sava Hassan is a Canadian author, poet and educator. He had published three books and wrote numerous articles in various topics in Canada, USA and China. For a year, he was writing an advice column for a major English magazine in China. Sava, occasionally, writes articles for several Chinese English Newspapers. He won several writing awards including seven from China.