Woyaya: Already Going

This is the time of year that we tend to line up all our faults and one by one proclaim how we’ll change them. I’ll be less sarcastic. I’ll be more organised. I’ll get things done well before the deadline. I’ll lay out my clothes every night…

For some reason, this time of year has become less about beginnings and more about endings. We try to “end” the things we perceive as bad, and change them into something good.  I’ll eat less junk food. I’ll go to the gym more.

Personally, I’ve never been good at making resolutions. What I find, and I suspect this is more common than not, is that when I make resolutions, what I’m really doing is deciding ways I can be more of what other people want. I resolve to change things that I’ve been told are faults.

I would put forth this about our “faults”. So what… Rather than resolving to change those things about us… what if we decided to put them to good use. Rather than resolve to go to the gym (which many people hate) what if we resolved to find an activity we loved – gardening, running, dancing. Rather than resolve to eat what society tells us is “approved food” we decide to put our palates on a journey, discovering which food is both good for us and good to us.

What if we considered our faults as a song of new beginnings, in the dark, cold, frozen world we live in?

Miriam Patrick