The new year has officially begun and chances are, resolutions have been made, like lose a few pounds, manage a budget, be nicer to each other, read more, eat less, both start and finish a project, etc.
The trouble with resolutions is that it takes a minute to make them, and less time than that to break them. Why is it that people can’t commit to self-improvement plans and stick to them?
The answer is obvious.
New Year’s Day comes at the wrong time of the year.
Think about it. January is a miserable time to start anything. Say you want to lose a few pounds. The first thing you’ll need to do is start exercising. Imagine walking or (God forbid) jogging, in 17-degree weather. That resolution will last only as long as it takes to thaw the ice out of your eyebrows. So, in my book, exercise is pretty much out of the question till the weather warms up. The other option is to cut calories and carbs and subsist on vegetables that cost more in the winter than the junk food they are supposed to replace. Besides, what else is there to do in the winter except eat? Wonderful, savory soups, hearty stews, homemade bread, hot cocoa, brownies fresh out of the oven … Stop eating? I don’t think so.
This year you resolve to manage your money better. Perhaps establish a budget and stick to it.
Right.
January is not a good time to start budgeting. All those after Christmas sales are happening with businesses that want to get rid of everything and they want you to be the one to buy it all. Your credit cards are already maxed out from the holiday extravagance of just a week ago, and they want you to buy more. The deals are too good to pass up so the budget is out the window before the ink dries on the credit card receipt.
Not only do you have Christmas bills and year-end closeouts to contend with, in the midst of all this spending blitz, something else is looming on the horizon; a reminder in your email that Uncle Sam is holding out his hand for his share of last year’s income. It’s tax time! Perhaps this looming annual headache is the reason a vast majority of Americans get smashed on New Year’s Eve because they know what’s waiting for them when they come to. Another unpleasant experience reserved for the first of the year.
If you have health insurance, another thing you have to look forward to in the new year is the turnover of your healthcare deductible. No matter how sick you were last year, you have to be at least that sick again so your insurance will be worth the thousands of dollars you’ve already poured into it, along with a likely increase in the cost of the premiums. Nothing to celebrate about that, is there?
But, all is not lost. A solution to this problem is obvious.
Put off the new year till spring.
The weather is warmer, and the days are longer. Losing weight is easier because you can get outside and walk or run or do yard work. You’re not stuck inside in the dark with the refrigerator and a full pantry. The air is fresh, the flowers are blooming, and love is in the air. (Another great motivator for that “losing weight” thing.) It is a time of new beginnings, or hope for the future; the perfect time to start anything and everything. The Christmas bills are a thing of the past (hopefully), fuel bills are lower, credit card bills are paid down, so perhaps a budget might actually be possible in the spring.
At work, thoughts turn to vacations, so employee relations turn amicable as the dreams flourish in anticipation of that long-awaited Caribbean cruise. Who wants to go on vacation in January?
So, with a show of hands, I propose putting off New Year’s Day till April. Until then, we can eat all we want, spend all we want, then break all our resolutions like we always do. At least the sun will be shining when we do it.