It's that time of year again when many of us embrace the tradition of developing and committing to commit to New Year's resolutions. Read more books, eat healthier, lose those niggling 10 or more pounds - all of the standard things that sound like they will make us better and happier. And for a person with cancer, many of those proclamations are the same - or perhaps even more specific based on the nature of your disease and status; smoke less, drink less diet soda ("pop" for those of you west of the Mississippi), use sunblock more frequently and liberally. But regardless of the motivation, the year starts off with an explosion of good intentions and life-changing behaviors/choices intended to help improve our lot in life.
The reality is that all too often, these promises become forgotten or burdensome usually sometime by the middle of February, and we slip back into our comfortable or convenient ways. Actually, statistically that date is January 17 of any given year (waaaay earlier than I would have guessed or imagined). But maybe that's okay. Maybe our goals were too lofty. Maybe our expectations for changes were too aggressive. Maybe we sought to improve on too many things at the same time.
My resolution this year is to look at ways that I can incrementally try to do something better, healthier, thriftier or more patiently than I do now. Not a wholesale change, but rather a minor uptick (or slowdown - if that's the tenor of the NECESSARY improvement). The likelihood of success is much greater, and the feeling of accomplishment will have a more positive carryover affect - laying the foundation for momentum.
My cancer is not lifestyle related, so it's not a matter of stopping or curbing an existing UNHEALTHY behavior physically. But there are things that I can do to affect/improve my quality of life which has to be good for any person's overall well-being - whether they have cancer or not. And perhaps being less hard on myself for failing to maintain an unrealistic resolution will result in keeping the goal alive past January 17, 2020. Set attainable goals. Feel good about the progress that you make. Forgive the setbacks that will inevitably occur and make the most of that which you can improve upon in the coming year. And take heart, in only 12 short months, you'll have a chance to start all over again. Ain't life grand?!?
