I used to make New Year’s resolutions each year. I loved the idea of starting over with a new year and improving myself in some way. Sometimes I would succeed with them and at other times I would fail. After a while, my failures caused the same resolutions to show up year after year. And that’s when I came to the conclusion that this whole resolution thing wasn’t working for me. I’m not very good at setting strict rules for myself. I think there’s a rebellious teenager in my brain saying, “I’m not doing that.” So I’ve replaced my resolutions with the occasional gentle suggestion. My gentle suggestion for 2022? I would probably feel better if I drink more water. That’s it.
Considering the nature of the past two years, I think maybe we should all go with this “gentle suggestion,” method of improvement. Life, particularly for teachers, has been full of a lot of stress. Be easy on yourself.
Do you make New Year’s resolutions?
I enjoy choosing a word for myself—a single word and seeing how the word applies to my life throughout the year. Last year my word was restoration. I haven’t picked this year’s word yet.