I didn’t keep my resolutions this year. Though let’s be honest, I rarely do.
I kind of hate resolutions because too often they seem to be rooted in our insidious diet culture or fatphobia–neither of which I have any time for–and because people aren’t usually any good at keeping their New Year’s resolutions.
Most of the time I make resolutions, they’re half joking instead. It’s something I can laugh about and have fun with during the year. A few years ago my best friend and I decided our joint resolution was to not take any crap from anyone anymore. Still working on that one. For 2022, I made just a few simple resolutions.
I told myself I wouldn’t buy any new books during the year until I worked my way through my massive to-be-read pile. But I couldn’t resist buying half a dozen romance novels I definitely didn’t need when the waitlist at the library was just too long and my patience was wearing thin.
I told myself I’d prioritize reading that to-be-read pile–all those shiny new books sitting unread on my shelves, some neglected for years. I watched almost every season of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills & Real Housewives of New York instead.
At least this year I had good reason for not keeping my resolutions. 2022 didn’t look like what I expected. Actually, come to think of it–the last year kind of sucked. It was hard and challenging in ways I would not like to repeat. So I don’t feel that bad about not keeping those resolutions. Because even if it was a hard year, it was also fruitful, and I had to let go of my resolutions to take care of myself.
So at the end of a hard, taxing year, I once again commit myself to as few resolutions as possible. I’ll try but I readily acknowledge that I might get to next December 31st and realize I failed again. In that spirit of general apathy toward New Year’s resolutions, my 2023 resolutions are:
- Repeat last year’s resolutions. Sure, they didn’t work last year, but hey, I might as well try again! Once again, I will not buy any new books until I read at least some of my to-be-read pile. My shelves are overflowing; I’ll read my poor, neglected books first.
- Rest more. And rest better. No surprise here–I’ve already blogged about this twice this year. If you need even more inspiration to add rest as a 2023 resolution for yourself, I recommend Rachel Wilkerson Miller’s latest article, “What Does It Mean to Really, Truly Rest?”
Since we know I hate resolutions, I’ll keep it simple and see how things go. Happy New Year! Wishing you all the best for a happy 2023 and better luck with your resolutions than I’ll probably have with mine!
header photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
