Being You (in 2014)

Come midnight the 31st of December many of us will be vowing to uphold a list of resolutions; most of which will be focused on improving ourselves, somehow, someway.

Those of Us who have lived long enough on this planet will already know this is largely a hopeless task.  Most items on the list will be forgotten by February and nearly all by May.  What remains will be added to next year's list, since what can you do when the year is already half gone?

Let's all try something different for 2014.

Let's vow to just be who we are, who YOU ARE, whoever  you are.

This year, choose resolutions that conform to You.  Don't plan to do things that are not You.  For example, don't plan to write the Great American Novel if getting out that 10-page work report is pure torture.  Don't decide to learn Piano if you can't stomach the embarrassment of (badly) performing childish ditties, when your inner fantasist envisions Elton John, at a minimum.

Choose resolutions that are enhancements of who You already Are.  If you love riding motorcycles, plan to become better at just one thing associated with riding.  That does NOT include going from zero to Hero and riding in the Isle of Man TT; try to be realistic and pick one, small thing that can be achieved.  Ride the length of your State, for instance, or get a knee down on a trackday.  Or just ride more often in 2014.

Also, don't try to change yourself beyond reasonable capabilities and Your Nature. Instead improve something you have a chance of controlling. For example, if you tend to fatness, don't plan to run a marathon by June, vow instead that if you are going to be fat, then you'll be fat eating only the best food you can afford, not cheap and tasteless junk food. Stick firmly to that simple goal and 2014 will feel better even if your waist size stays the same.

In recent years I've consciously make ridiculous resolutions I never intended to keep; mainly because I've never kept any in the past no matter how reasonable there were.  I've come to realize this may have been because all my resolutions were too sweeping.  The changes may have been desirable - even wise, but the scope was too large, removing any hope they'd be realized.

So, for 2014, my resolutions will be baby steps that I can take without trying hard at all.  But they will be improvements, and that's what counts.  I'm no longer swinging for the fences - I'm recognizing I'm a singles hitter at best and bunting my way towards the future.

Good Luck and Happiness to All in 2014 ...