Why Most Resolutions Fail and How to Make Yours Foolproof
By Lori Pinkerton. Posted on .
The holiday season is almost here. It seems like yesterday we were making our New Year’s resolutions for 2011: to lose weight, maybe, or get out of debt, find a better job, find love.
Was 2011 the year all your romantic dreams came true? Or do you look back on the year with regret? Was it full of exciting, intelligent men or missed opportunities? Laughter and genuine connections or awkward situations? Dates that make you cringe even now?
Maybe you were too busy to really get out there. Too stressed out by deadlines to even think about dating. Perhaps your kids took your full attention. Maybe a few bad dates crushed your enthusiasm, making you wonder if any good men were even out there. You might have started to question, “Is it worth it? Am I worth it?”
You started the year with such hope. But then life got in the way.
Maybe you promised yourself you’d update your online portfolio next week. Next month, you’d spend more time getting out there and meeting men. After this project is done, after your parents go back home, after the kids are back in school, . . . And suddenly it was November, and you realized that another holiday season alone loomed ahead.
Even then, the fear and dread fueled more reasons to put off finding intimacy. Instead of dating more and finding someone to share the season, you steeled yourself for going alone to the parties and dinners and family gatherings. You decided to throw yourself into cooking or decorating or volunteering. You devoted your time and energy to buying gifts or getting caught up on work so you could celebrate without stressing out. If you can just keep busy enough, you won’t think about being alone. You can worry about dating next year. Next year will be different.
But will it? If you could go back in time and tell yourself to do things differently last year, what would you say? More important, would you listen?
Putting off love can become a habit. And every year, that habit just gets harder to break. Trust me: I know.
Life will always get in the way if you let it. You aren’t going to get any less busy. Your family and friends will always take your time, energy, and attention. Your career is likely to get more challenging, not less.
The irony is, we let our everyday challenges keep us from finding someone special when having someone special to support and inspire us is the best way to face and excel at these challenges.
You know what the Ghost of New Years’ Past would have to tell you about your love life, but what about the Ghost of New Years’ Future? Will she tell you that next year, you found someone? Or will she show you another year of doing the same thing over and over with the same dismal results?
When she takes you several years into the future, will you be snuggling at home and sharing stories and laughter with a man who makes you feel ageless, or will you be old and alone, counting the days between visits from your grandchildren and calling customer service departments just to have someone to talk to?
