By Lorie Ham
A new year is once again upon us, and many of us make New Year’s resolutions or set goals for the new year. While some of the most common resolutions are to lose weight and exercise more, there are so many other things we can do in the area of self-improvement—some can even be fun!
But why is it so hard to keep resolutions? According to an article on HowStuffWorks, one problem is that we make our resolutions too broad. Instead of just planning to exercise more, why not plan a specific exercise, such as taking a half-hour walk five times a week? Another suggestion the article makes is to make it something that isn’t boring—make positive and creative resolutions this year! Things like taking more risks in life, forgiving someone, tipping more generously, trying a new adventure, using your talents to help others, or learning how to do one fun new thing you have always wanted to do.
Something else that many of us might want to consider is a resolution to spend more time with others and be more social. The pandemic has taken its toll on many of our social lives and relationships with others. Even many who would consider themselves extroverts have become accustomed to staying home. The website Where I Can Be Me has some suggestions along those lines—while they are meant for teens, they can be applicable to any age. One is to join a club or team—which could tie into another resolution to try something new.
Many cities have local sports leagues. Perhaps you played soccer or baseball in school and would like to take it up again. Most bowling alleys also have leagues you can join if you want something a little less physically demanding. Board games have seen a resurgence, as have game stores, and many of those stores have game nights where people can come together to play games with others. These stores, and some libraries, also offer chances to play Dungeons and Dragons, which has seen a big resurgence thanks to the TV show Stranger Things. You could also join a book club, which would help if you made a resolution to read more books and perhaps try some books outside of your normal preference. You could see if a local church has a Bible study group where you could learn to know new people and follow through on a resolution to grow your faith.
Something else on many people’s minds these days is a concern for the environment and wanting to do more to help reduce your environmental impact. Back to the idea of making your resolutions more specific to increase success in fulfilling them, perhaps pick one specific thing you can make an extra effort to do in that area this year. LoadUp has a list of 24 suggestions which include recycling, buying a reusable water bottle, upgrading to Energy Star Appliances, turning off lights, carpooling, and using reusable grocery bags.
Another of the article’s suggestions is planting a garden. According to the article, an average, about 8% of your personal carbon footprint comes from food. If you replace just 20% of the vegetables you usually buy at the store, you can reduce your carbon footprint by 68 lbs. of CO2 per year by decreasing the need to transport vegetables from their source. You can also use recycled rainwater, and compost lawn clippings and food waste for fertilizer.
Another environment-related resolution could be to avoid fast fashion, which is the process of producing cheap, low-quality clothing in mass quantities in order to keep up with all the growing fashion trends. So many of us buy clothes we really don’t need, often on a whim. The textile production, manufacturing, and distribution make up about 10% of carbon emissions, pollute water sources, and more. Also, 85% of textiles and other fashion waste end up in a landfill each year.
So, before making your New Year’s resolutions, consider these tips and ideas. Do something that makes your life better, and perhaps the lives of others as well. Make specific resolutions that you are more likely to keep. Get out there and be a part of the world we live in! We would love it if you would share your resolutions on the Mennonite Insurance Facebook page!
