A New Beginning Or Maybe Not

"Whatever you do or dream you can, begin it." - Johann Wolfgang van Goethe

So it's already January 4th and I can't quite get a grip on New Year's Resolutions. It's not that I don't have many goals for "Twenty Ten" or can't make a list of many resolutions for this new decade. It's that I have this pending confusion about whether Resolutions are promising or nugatory. The problem is that I think creating a list of New Year's Resolutions, only sets me up for failure. A New Year is not going to bring me the extra motivation to make it happen this year. Or is it? That's were I am completely perplexed.

Beginning things is the trickiest part of any goal or in this New Year a new resolution. But as I think about it, so many people make resolutions because a New Year is a fresh time to start. So why not take the opportunity of January 1st and use it to your benefit. Get those things accomplished that you want to get done. BUT, what happens next week when I forget to pay a bill or am too tired for the gym? Is my year completely a dud? Do I have to wait until 2011, to start again? This is my problem with New Year's Resolutions.

Why is it only on one day of the year that every person feels the need to improve their lives? I went to lunch with a friend on New Years Day, and sure enough I was the person to ask what her New Year's Resolutions were. Regardless of the fact that she wasn't quite ready with an answer, she did get back to me yesterday after some thought. I have lunch with this friend frequently, and I never ask her "So what are your goals for today/this week/this month?" Why don't we ask these questions more often? Why is it only on January 1st? Is once a year really the only time we have the motivation to begin the things we all want to improve in our lives?

I think that in 2010, I am going to work on beginning all the things I want to accomplish, and not be discouraged when I have small failures along the way. Once I have begun, I have completed the most difficult part. I don't need to begin everything today, I can begin things throughout the year. Maybe on the first of every month or the Monday of every week. Beginning is what gets us to the end.