Resolutions That Stick
My resolutions come to me as they please. I don’t set my sights firmly on one when the New Year comes around. Instead, they take a bit of time to crystallize out of thin air – kind of like brainstorming ideas for a WUPR piece. I’m here to advocate for letting resolutions come to you. I’m here to prove to you that buying a Planet Fitness membership on January 1st will not confirm the future existence of your very own six-pack. Rather, I want to convince you that it’s best to let change happen and realize that it’s been happening right under your nose. So keep this article under your nose for the time being. Maybe something will happen.
It took me until January 3rd to realize that it was 2019. The two prior days were spent looking at the ocean and thinking about nothing until something crept in. The Gulf Coast looked sublime for about 25 seconds during the sunset, but it was ultimately inseparable from the 30 Dunkin Donuts shops in my immediate surrounding square mile. The notion of escaping civilization to find solace in nature had been on my mind and Florida made it clear to me that this desire isn’t as clear-cut as it seems. On January 3rd I came out of this trance with the fully formed resolution that this escape would never be possible. I didn’t tell anybody or write it on my Facebook wall. It was perfect for a long, winding, vague post that nobody would read all the way through, but I decided to keep it close. And for these reasons, I know it will stick.
[su_pullquote align=”right”]Each time I go the natural underbelly of the landscape is the same, dotted by both serenity and anxiety.[/su_pullquote]The coastal edges of Florida made my mind move a little slower, but mostly in a therapeutic way. I’ve been going there every New Year to escape a little bit, finding a few brief moments of solace. Each time I go the natural underbelly of the landscape is the same, dotted by both serenity and anxiety. The palm trees sway peacefully until I realize they’re invasive species. Lily pads float in a pond under my resting gaze until I fear the potential presence of an alligator looming in the damp grass. I find myself wishing I could land on either side of an internal conflict and remain content with my decision. But each New Year slowly unearths something even more confusing about the world until I find myself straddling the line between bliss and fear even more precariously. It isn’t until a resolution comes to me silently that I am at peace — not because I picked a side, but because I found another previously unknown option.
[su_pullquote align=”right”]Rather, these softer resolutions naturally work themselves into life and become known with time.[/su_pullquote]If we lift up the artificial demarcations of days, weeks, months, and years we can stare the process of resolution directly in the face as it truly is. Especially looking out on the ocean, all of these time markers and their corresponding labels fade into insignificance to reveal the more permanent things. Every year when I go back to Florida, I immediately notice the Wal-Mart, gas stations, and the pizza buffets. But over time I recognize the permanence and beauty of the landscape underneath. Both these elements coalesce in my mind at the same time, but I’m careful to separate the two. They are similar to resolutions in that they can be split apart to recognize the permanence of one and the impermanence of the other. The latter is the rigid resolution: e.g. start working out, learn programming, or drink less caffeine. The second category lies deeper under these harder resolutions and it is for this reason that they are impossible to summon at will. Rather, these softer resolutions naturally work themselves into life and become known with time. They are usually the result of some long soul-searching that has finally converged on a solution. And it is for this reason that they stick.
[su_pullquote]But I’ve found that the resolutions that stick aren’t the ones that could be mindlessly posted on my Facebook wall, but rather they are the ones I make in private, when the time comes.[/su_pullquote]I know in the back, or maybe even front, of your mind you’re confused with my mystical attempt at profundity and are likely to toss it aside as pointless abstraction. And I don’t want to say that New Year’s resolutions are completely pointless fodder. But I’ve found that the resolutions that stick aren’t the ones that could be mindlessly posted on my Facebook wall, but rather they are the ones I make in private, when the time comes. They are unlikely to take the form of a bodybuilding physique or marketable technical skills. But the changes that come from them are more gratifying. So don’t get upset if you stopped hitting the gym after a few weeks; there could be something more valuable that sticks with you just around the corner.
Christian Fogerty ‘19 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. He can be reached at c.fogerty@wustl.edu.