New Year, New You?

As we're rounding this sharp corner into the New Year, I can't help but to fall victim to that ever so infamous annual "New Year, New You" phenomenon.  Along with the Santa Suits and the naked-and-needle-less Christmas trees, people left and right are tossing out their old selves, post holiday blues and all, onto the curb to be picked up by the garbage truck on Wednesday morning at 8am.  I mean, you really can't blame them.

With post holiday glum polluting the air by the millions of tons, you can't help but to crave that freshness that comes with the spirit of rebirth and renewal.  Out with the old, and in with the new, they say.  It's January--the month of resolutions and optimism--the month of spiked sales and profits in athletic stores.  The month of high hopes and higher credit card bills.  It's the month of gym memberships and dedication to not only healthy, but also happy.  It's a month of looking forward, because only in doing so, can we shake the sadness that comes with the 26th of December. 

According to my dear friend Merriam, Merriam Webster, a resolution is, by definition, a decision to do something or behave in a certain manner.  In the spirit of the post holiday season, I've decided to follow the masses in committing to a few New Year's Resolutions.  Please do excuse the basic-ness and predictability of my decision--I'm simply following my cliff-jumping friends off the cliff; however, unlike the majority, I don't completely buy into the New Year, New You jargon, simply because the New Year has never revolved around change for me, and neither have my resolutions.  In fact and actuality, my New Year's resolutions have always served more as reminders--reminders to self-reflect and to look back on older decisions and commitments to do that simply got a little lost and smothered in the dust along the way.  Rather than aim for a complete, total, and unrecognizable transformation, my goals revolve around holding onto as much of my prior self as possible, and embellishing.  This is the year that I commit to embellishing the hell out of me, beginning with January.

January.. It's the month of resolutions and optimism--the month of accountability.  The month of wild hopes and dreams, and even wilder travel plans.  It's the month of dedication to good food and even greater people.  It's a month of experiential living and a devotion to green.  It's a month of looking forward, not to shake the sadness that comes with the 26th of December, but to embrace it and emerge from it more good and even more gold.  January--it's the month that will kick off a year of resilience and strength.

And so, New Year, New You?  Maybe not entirely.  New Year, but same and improved you?  I could probably roll with that.