New year’s resolutions – made to be broken.
What makes us think the end of one year and the beginning of the next will imbue us with discipline and determination we’ve never had before and enable us to effortlessly stop smoking, start exercising, eat healthier, etc. etc., et-freaking-cetera?
It’s the myth of the clean slate. The new year comes in all fresh and unsullied and we discard our tattered 2021 selves for our new! Improved! 2022 selves.
Then the 2022 self gets stressed and lights up. Or skips the gym. Or gets fast food for dinner. We realize we’re still our old 2021 selves temporarily pumped up with false hope. You broke your resolution so why bother? Give up.
Or make different resolutions.
These 10 suggestions aren’t designed to make your life better overnight. If you try to keep them, you will likely fail once or twice. Or a hundred times. But you can start over. You can do better tomorrow.
We at The Straz Center are immersed in musical theater so we’ve included some inspirational verses from Broadway hits.
In short? Be kind to yourself and to others. Accept what you can’t change. Optimism is good, expectations, not so much. Love may not conquer all, but it does a lot more good than indifference or hate.
Happy new year from, your friends at The Straz.
1. Be resilient.
“Many a New Day” – Oklahoma
I’ll buy me a brand new dress to wear
I’ll scrub my neck
And I’ll brush my hair
And start all over again!
2. Be ready when opportunity arises.
“My Shot” – Hamilton
I am not throwing away my shot
I am not throwing away my shot
Hey, yo, I’m just like my country
I’m young, scrappy and hungry
And I’m not throwing away my shot
3. Stay positive.
“Happy Talk” – South Pacific
Happy talk, keep talkin’ happy talk,
Talk about things you’d like to do.
You got to have a dream,
If you don’t have a dream,
How you gonna have a dream come true?
4. Never give up hope.
“You’ll Never Walk Alone” – Carousel
Walk on through the wind
Walk on through the rain
Though your dreams be tossed and blown
Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you’ll never walk alone
5. Do the right thing.
“The Impossible Dream” – Man of La Mancha
This is my quest
To follow that star
Ooh, no matter how hopeless
No matter how far
To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march, march into hell
For that heavenly cause
6. Follow your dream.
“Climb Ev’ry Mountain” – The Sound of Music
Climb every mountain
Ford every stream
Follow every rainbow
Till you find your dream
A dream that will need
All the love you can give
Every day of your life
For as long as you live
7. Believe in yourself.
“I Can Do That” – A Chorus Line
Knew ev’ry step
Right off the bat.
Said,
“I can do that,
I can do that.”
8. Accept life on life’s terms.
“Hold to the Ground” – Falsettos
Life is never what you planned
Life is moments you can’t understand …
I hold to the ground
As the ground keeps shifting,
Keeping my balance square.
9. Don’t focus on the past or the future – live in the moment.
“Move On” – Sunday In the Park With George
Stop worrying where you’re going-
Move on
If you can know where you’re going
You’ve gone
Just keep moving on
10. Let go of your fears and embrace your strength.
“Let It Go” – Frozen
It’s funny how some distance makes everything seem small
And the fears that once controlled me can’t get to me at all
It’s time to see what I can do
To test the limits and break through
No right, no wrong, no rules for me
I’m free
