The other night, my friend Kim and I met for cocktails and our conversation turned to the exciting things that we’d been able to do and learn over the course of the year. As we shared with each other our triumphs and experiences, we realized that we had each had a pretty damned good 2010. Anything we’d set out to do, we had either accomplished, or learned from.
While the two of us actually had few regrets about the previous year, there were others I had spoken to that didn’t quite fare the same. The year couldn’t end fast enough for them. We realized that most people’s regrets at the close of a year had to do with …well… not doing. The best laid plans just lay there, unless you pick them up and actually do something with them. Too many people shuffle through life allowing things to happen to them instead of taking an active role in making things happen for themselves.
As I plan to make 2011 even more active and fruitful than the previous year, I fully realize that I need to sidestep that age old enemy of the New Year …the Resolution. The New Year’s resolution has become an empty promise. It is not an action. It’s not even a plan of action. Why do today what you can put off for the rest of the year, right? The problem with resolutions, is that we’re not truly held accountable. We make them, and then push them aside like that half eaten plate of nachos we resolved we were never going to touch again. Too often, this wishful thinking leads to disappointment and frustration. So, what good are they? I say, to hell with resolutions. Make choices instead. Then, make solid plans based on those choices.
Stop trying to change yourself. You are already a great person. Once you appreciate who you are at the core, you’ll be able to do more of the things in life that will make you happy. Take a look at the world around you and what it has to offer. If you choose to become part of it, the world can illuminate you and you can illuminate the world. It’s the confidence of being that allows you to make things happen, not empty promises. Learn to love who you are, and then you’ll be able to make plans to do, not be.
Kim didn’t make a resolution to change her career path. She found the confidence to quit her job and put the wheels in motion to start her own company this year. I didn’t make a resolution to alter my creative ambitions. I decided to walk away from a situation that made me unhappy and accepted an invitation to join an established theatre company instead. They have since made me chair of the new Literary Committee. I am also writing at a more productive pace and I will have my West Coast premiere as a playwright within six months.
We didn’t make resolutions, we made choices. Because we did, we’re able to think back on what made 2010 such a great year. We should all strive to be more active in our own lives. You’re not going to wake up on that dream vacation if you don’t book it to begin with, and you’re going to be stuck in that bad relationship until you find the confidence to tell her to pack her junk and get out.
Make choices ladies and gentlemen, not resolutions. Even if they end up being bad choices, it’s your life and they were your bad choices to make.
Happy 2011. It’s going to be an amazing year.
-Ceddy
You are absolutely right Cedric, we will never get anything accomplished in life if we just sit there with our arms crossed waiting for a miracle. it's time to take action! A resolution is a good first step but that's it, it's time to get a move on and start making things happen!
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