How to make New Year's resolutions last

Vibrant Life, Jan-Feb, 2005 by Richard O'Ffill

It was the first week of January. My wife and I were new members of a national health and fitness center and had gone to the club for our regular workout. As the attendant swiped our membership cards, I commented on the fact that the place was jammed. It appeared that every piece of exercise equipment in the facility was in use. I was not particularly encouraged at the thought of having to wait like one has to stand in line at a theme park.

"Don't worry," commented one of the trainers, "this won't last long. We're always packed at the beginning of the year." My wife and I nodded. We were seeing evidence of the ol' New Year's resolution syndrome.

I don't know who did the study, but I've heard that a typical New Year's resolution lasts an average of five days. Five days! Mention the subject of New Year's resolutions in any group of people, and someone is bound to laugh right out loud.

So what's wrong with making a New Year's resolution? Nothing. In fact, I think it's a great idea, and a good incentive to put into practice something we know we ought to implement in our lives. I'm increasingly convinced that, when it comes to health, we don't lack for information or even conviction. What we do lack is motivation to do what we know we should be doing.

The beginning of a New Year is as good as any excuse--better than most--to make positive improvements in our lives. After all, we see the end of the year as the closing of a chapter, and January 1 as symbolically turning over a new page. Why not take advantage of the occasion to bring the high priority areas of our lives some badly needed upgrades?

However, here's where the plot thickens. How can we find the time in our busy lives to do what needs to be done? Even more to the point, how can we make these needed improvements last? After all, there are only 24 hours in a day.

Here's the secret. You can't put something new into your life unless you take something else out to make room for it.

One day my wife asked me to go to the car and retrieve our son's soiled work clothes. It was raining hard as it usually does on a summer afternoon in Florida where we live. Obediently, I grabbed an empty clothesbasket with one hand and hoisted an umbrella over my head with the other. Out I went into the downpour.

I had to balance the umbrella while I piled soiled shirts, jeans, and socks into the basket. As it turned out, there were more pieces of laundry than room in the hamper. Rather than make a second trip, I heaped the clothes up higher and higher. Then, holding the load close to my body while trying to keep sheltered from the rain, I stumbled toward the house. Glancing back, I noticed small piles of clothes lining the walkway. I was leaving a trail.

The articles that fell out were not the ones that were rocked securely inside the basket. They were the ones I'd heaped on top. Get it? New Year's resolutions fail because they're usually piled on top of everything else we do.

Life revolves around time. If I want to add something new to my life, I must reorder my priorities. Adding those things that are most important will necessarily mean off-loading to make room. Sometimes that may mean not only exchanging the bad for the good, but often, the better for the best.

Keep in mind that to bring change into our lives we don't have to wait until January 1. There's really no reason why we shouldn't begin making new resolutions on a daily basis. To honor His part of the process, our Great Physician willingly offers us a fresh beginning each and every morning.

The prophet Jeremiah proclaimed that God's mercies are "new every morning" (Lamentations 3:23). If our heavenly Father is willing to give us a new start every day, shouldn't we jump at the chance?

Make the concept of New Year's resolutions a daily occurrence in your life--beginning today!

Richard O'Ffill writes from sunny, but sometimes rainy, Longwood, Florida.