I got tired of making resolutions only to see them fall apart before the new year really got going, so I resolved to stop making resolutions.
I’m sad to say that I broke that one, too.
There’s something tempting about a blank slate. It offers the chance to make different choices and achieve real change.
A blank slate also comes with added pressure. It’s like saying, “I’ll be my usual loser self until midnight on Jan. 1, and then I’ll magically transform into my best self.”
It feels like a recipe for failure, doesn’t it?
I’m experimenting with a new tactic this year. I looked back over the past few months and realized there was one activity that I was doing here and there.
Instead of starting fresh with a new behavior, maybe I could make that activity more regular.
It sounds logical, except I’ve been trying to establish the habit in question for decades.
When I was working at The South Alabamian, A. Stacy Long was one of my co-workers. He’d been a sports reporter for the college newspaper and covered the women’s gymnastics team.
He was overweight in college until members of the team taught him a series of stretches. With their encouragement, he regularly performed the stretches, and the weight fell off.
According to modern advice, you’re supposed to do weight-bearing exercises to get the best results, but I wonder about the stretches he was learning from the women on the gymnastics team.
He wasn’t just stretching. He was also building lean muscle mass, so he might’ve gotten the weight-lifting benefits without lifting weights.
Anyway, his story from decades ago stuck with me, but I’ve never been able to sustain a regular habit.
I suspect my lack of success has something to do with not having a team of athletic women around to cheer me on to greater heights. But we face the new year with what we have, not what we might want to have.
Increasing my flexibility has become more important recently. I started a new job that involves a major uptick in typing, so I’ve had a recurring issue with carpal tunnel.
Stretching regularly keeps the pain away. But even knowing that, I don’t always follow through.
My resolution is about taking the proper steps for pain management, but it goes further than that.
Hard things break. Flexible things bend. I don’t know how long I’ve got left on this earth — no one does — but I can’t see a time when I won’t want to be able to move.
Certain things could happen that make that difficult, but I’m inspired by several friends with Parkinson’s disease. They deal with their mobility issues by pushing against them and trying to be as mobile as possible.
They say they’re simply doing what they must to deal with their illnesses, but I still admire their examples.
I’m sure they’d enjoy their exercises more if they could be cheered on by a team of athletic collegiate women, but they prove that A. Stacy Long’s setup, while enviable, is not necessary.
Again, I’ve been stretching here and there. I’ve got about five movements that keep my wrist keyboard-ready. I do them whenever I feel a twinge.
My resolution for the new year is to expand what I’ve already been doing to include the rest of me.
If I succeed, I’ll report back.
If you don’t hear from me, it’s probably because, yet again, I resolved to stop making resolutions.
