On New Year’s Day, I would like to reflect on the topic of new year’s resolutions. It’s a pretty well-known fact that most people make them but end up dropping their resolutions midway through the year. The most popular new year’s resolution is to lose weight and get in shape. It’s quite the cliche to see a sudden onslaught of new people in your local gym come January, only for them to disappear by March or April.
I’m one of those people who forgot about their new year’s resolution… but not in the way you would think.
I didn’t stop going to the gym, and I didn’t stop eating healthy. I didn’t give up on savings and investments (another common resolution.) Why? Because that had nothing to do with my resolution.
At the beginning of 2022, I stumbled upon some old photos of myself. They were pretty much up until high school age. It was so interesting to go through old photos I hadn’t seen before, and I noticed qualities I had in these photos:
♡ Spirited
♡ Carefree
♡ Silly
♡ Glowing
♡ Curious
It hit me that somewhere in the mix, I seemed to lose these qualities. Because when I looked at photos from a later period, they were just… different. Something had changed. There were different qualities within those photos:
♡ Serious
♡ Guarded
♡ Inhibited
♡ Quiet
♡ Weary
I found myself feeling nostalgic. I was thinking back on some of the times from the earlier photos. What made me happy? Well, it didn’t really take much!
That was when my new year’s resolution came to me: I would reconnect with that girl who is spirited.
At that moment, I felt so lit up from within. I mean literally, I got chills and was smiling and dancing and just vibing!
Then I forgot about it.
Yes, that’s right. My resolution would pop in my head from time to time, but mostly I didn’t think about it… at least consciously, that is.
You see, setting that intention opened doors for me. I noticed little synchronicities that would align for me. I’d turn on a podcast that would talk about making yourself happy, and how to do that. Then I would try the advice for myself and soon it became a habit. I would run into opportunities that made me feel so good. A lot of old, heavy things in my life would seem to come to an end on its own.
When you set an intention but let go of the outcome, you become a magnet to your dreams.
The reason so many people stop their resolutions midway through the year isn’t because they forget about them, but because they’re so overly attached to the outcome in a discontented space. This makes them give up entirely.
Think about it: if you set your resolution to lose weight and get in shape, how does that make you feel? I doubt you’re going to do the same ridiculous dance I did. You’re probably going to feel motivated at first, but that will quickly fade away into a heavy, burdensome anxiety.
Why? Because you’re trying to change who you are. Now you have to go on a diet (and 95% of diets fail!) You’re going to have to do hours of boring cardio and give up every food that you love. Eating bland white meat chicken and steamed vegetables every day. Uhhhh… no thanks!
Now you might be thinking, Charis! Weren’t you technically trying to change who you are?
No!!!
It wasn’t ever about changing myself. It was about reconnecting with my true spirit.
It was about feeling courageous again and just so sparkly.
The greatest freedom is to believe in yourself.
Britney Spears
Since the beginning of the year, I’ve focused on the little things that bring me joy. Does that mean that every day is happy go lucky and easy all the time, or that I never experience difficulties? Of course not, because that’s not real, and never has been. Part of being spirited is about facing life’s challenges with great energy and courage.
If you’ve read this far, what kind of resolution do you think you’ll set this coming year? Do you think you would ever consider challenging yourself to step out of the box, and make your resolution something unusual? Just know that by doing so, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
P.S. Here are some moments from 2022 that made me feel… sparkly 😉
