New Year's resolution finds the beauty within

New Year’s resolution finds the beauty within

I can honestly say that I have never liked the idea of making New Year’s resolutions. Why? They always seemed unrealistic or over-done. Maybe this came about when I first learned about them as a child at school. The ideas my teachers would give would usually involve: get better grades, keep my room clean, help my parents more, be nicer to my brother/sister etc. As I got older the resolutions became more about body image such as lose weight, exercise more etc. As time would go on, I either forgot about the resolutions I set or no longer cared about them. Were they too hard, boring or dumb? I could give a number of reasons why, but in the end they just became boring or frustrating.

Then I read my friend, Melissa’s, New Year’s resolution from 2016 and I loved it. Why? Her resolution sounded fun, and became so much more, especially for her inner-self. I was truly inspired by her resolution and the surprising turn of events it had for her. Please read on…

Melissa Zimmerman Cluff’s 2016 New Year’s Resolution

Finishing up one of the best years ever! I accomplished my New Year’s resolutions with distinction and with unexpected results. I wanted my resolutions to be fun. I was tired of being so hard on myself (women in general are very good at that). My resolutions were 1- buy a new outfit for myself once a month, and 2- eat at a new restaurant once a month.
I realized this was harder than I thought it would be. I hadn’t really shopped for myself in years and when I did it was incredibly utilitarian. As I shopped and found clothes I loved, I also began loving my body, which does some amazing feats for me every day. I found myself taking better care of my body which consequently had me feeling better and stronger. I began to have more courage and confidence to go after long-postponed dreams. I was searching for uncovered gems in the culinary world and began finding them in myself as well.

I also rediscovered the many amazing qualities of my favorite person in the world. It’s easy to overlook or simply see only the flaws after 20 years together. But in being kind to myself, it became second nature to focus on the beautiful attributes of others.

Rod, (Melissa’s husband) not only ran his first marathon but he did so under terrible conditions. That day brought freezing rain and at mile 13 a Charlie horse in his calf. He didn’t stop running. His goal of keeping under a 10-minute-mile pace quickly changed to just enduring and finishing the race as the pain increased and never subsided.

I’m so proud of him for not giving up. He also joked that he kept running even though “old men and women were passing me as though I was standing still!” 😂 I laugh every single day because of his unique and positive twist on life!

So… this next year I want kindness, love, and beauty to guide my world.

Next week I will blog about children and setting New Year’s resolutions