Could ‘letting go’ be the best way to make changes?
By Kelly Hockenberry, Columnist, The Times
The YMCA is a madhouse. For the next two weeks (or so) the parking lot is jammed with all of the 2015 New Year’s Resolutions it can accommodate. Annoying? Yes. But, I am sympathetic to the cause.
I have written in the past about my attempts to “reinvent” myself every January: drink more water, don’t pick at my fingernails, eat two cookies (not five) at a sitting….the basics. There was a fleeting moment in my younger days to try to be REALLY transformative: stop procrastinating, live in the moment, don’t sweat the small stuff, yadda, yadda, yadda.
None of it mattered. I was a failure by February 1st, without question.
So, in light of it all, I have decided that 2015 will be (in honor of George Costanza) OPPOSITE YEAR! Based on one of my favorite Seinfeld episodes, “if every instinct I have is wrong, the opposite must be right.”
Perhaps if I adamantly refuse to declare a resolution, I will finally be successful in my attempt to be less neurotic (which is the underlying theme of all of my bad habits) Croissant for breakfast? Yes! Day off from Spin class? Why not? Wait until I am inspired to do my grad school homework? Sign me up! (OK, maybe not that one)
I have read many articles touting the benefits of “letting go.” Theories that when you alleviate yourself from the pressures and boundaries of self-imposed restrictions that you can finally open yourself up to real change. Psycho-babble? Perhaps. (I’m only approaching day 2 of my Master’s degree so I can’t speak with authority). But, it’s worth a try, don’t you think?
Do YOU make resolutions? If so, what are they and have you had any success keeping them?
Please, share in the Comment section below!
Happy Weekend!
