On Making New Year's Resolutions

Photo: quizzle.com

In a matter of days we will be saying goodbye to 2012 and say hello to a new year. This is the time to make a list of what we want to do or accomplish next year. It's the time that we like to have a clean slate to start over again.
Every year, we also produce a sadly familiar repertoire of aspirations dealing with bad habits. On the first days of every year, we always mean well, but it's clear that some of us lack firmness of purpose. The spirit is willing, but the flesh loses its temper. You could say, that's the essence of New Year's Resolution. It's a wet sponge, slurping up the black marks of the past, leaving a clean slate for the future.
What if, going forward, you aren't determined but instead you have determination? I know, you're wondering "What's the difference?" Other words for determined are: resolute, gritty, and unwavering. I'm not sure about you, but all I feel when I read those words is "blah"! I don't feel very inspired. When setting goals and making plans, being inspired is an absolute! Now let's look at the word determination: it also means purpose. Another word for purpose is intention, which also means goal. 
What is the purpose that you want to accomplish this year? Is it really quitting a bad habit? Is it really about exercise or is it about feeling great inside and out? 
What if this year you said "My purpose for 2013 is to look great, feel great and love my reflection" instead of saying "My New Year's Resolutions are... blah... blah... blah..."? How do you think that would change your outlook? 
But still, if you break your goal/resolution, don't feel bad about yourself. After all,  it's not the breaking of resolutions that counts so much as the making. To make a resolution is to travel hopefully, to reach beyond one's grasp, to try a better life-style on for size, just in case --- this year --- you'll finally be able to say, "I've finally grown big enough to fit into it."