I wasn’t thinking about my New Year’s Resolution until about mid January when I was grocery shopping and I turned down the candy aisle. I, really, was just passing through!
Suddenly, I found four people standing directly in front of the the wall of candy, staring wistfully at each item. I don’t remember seeing that many people in that aisle at one time–not even for Valentine’s Day.
I could hear the gears working in each brain. “I promised myself I would lose weight. How can I lose weight if I give in and buy this candy?” It was almost as if their mom was giving them the, “No you can’t have candy!” reprimand, and the child in them was saying, with their sweet puppy dog eyes, “Please mommy, I will only have one.” Then the child in you silently adds, “at a time.”
Another was thinking, “My resolution was to give up sugar this year. Not because I have to lose weight but because, sugar, according to the experts, is poison for my body. I don’t want to poison my body, but I really want some chocolate!”
The third was thinking, “I made an agreement with my doctor. Since I am pre-diabetic and I really don’t want to be diabetic, I would not eat candy or any thing that turns to sugar in the body, like bread, pasta and rice. I will fill up on vegetables and fruit.”
I am doomed!
The fourth was a tall, thin, young man. He wasn’t thinking about anything. He strode down the aisle, grabbed a couple of large bags of chocolate and left.
I hope he didn’t hear the angry curses that were aimed at him.
Our minds can stay focused on our resolutions or promises for about two weeks. But, only if it is in January. It doesn’t last quite that long the rest of the year. I think the reason we can’t stay focused, is that the resolutions we make are so broad and that there is not a specific element we can focus on. If you tell yourself to give up all sugar–you are doomed before you try! Tell yourself you will eat one less sugar filled item a day. That is doable.
This year, I didn’t make a real resolution nor did I make a promise. I did say I would “try” to do something–but a try–can last 5 minutes without any guilt.
I did say I would continue eating the way I have been, which is: I am sort of eating healthy, sort of exercising, and sort of cutting down on the amount of Diet Coke I drink. This was a resolution that cannot be broken. How do you measure “sort of”? Each person has their own definition, so I am going to “sort of” keep on “truckin” and “sort of” keep my resolution for the first time, ever!
And “sort of” avoid of the candy aisle!