Resolutions

Another year has passed by and, like so many other people do at this time of year, I start thinking about making resolutions.  I usually make many resolutions each year.  Some of them are quite practical and reasonable.  Some are impossible.  And some are just silly.  I have this tendency to make goals about things that don’t really matter or even about things that I do just for fun.  For example, I’ll say something like, “I have to finish watching this TV series by the end of the year” or “I have to work on this puzzle before I can do anything else” or even “I have to play for 30 minutes three times a week on my Wii.”  These are all things that I do for fun, but I can’t help turning them into chores.  I’ll tell you, nothing sucks the fun out of something faster than turning it into a chore.  

It’s important to have goals.  Goals keep us going and keep us motivated.  I know when it comes to sewing that I am more likely to get the project finished when there is a deadline.  The same thing is true with my writing.  If I need something done by a specific time, then I get it done, but there are many stories and sewing projects that are still left unfinished and have been for years.

But aren’t we much more likely to do something, to work on something, and to finish something when we enjoy doing it?  And it is much easier to enjoy something when we don’t have to do it. When I was a kid, I wouldn’t clean my own room but I had no problem with helping my friends clean theirs.  When our recreations become obligations, they no longer feel like fun, they feel like work.  We can’t let our own eagerness to finish something distract us from why we are doing it, for fun.  That’s why I write, that’s why I sew, that’s why I watch TV, put together puzzles, and play Wii.  It’s for the fun of it.

Perhaps instead of turning our recreational activities into chores, this year we should try to turn our chores into recreation.  I heard once that one way to reduce stress in your life is to turn “I have to do. . .” into “I chose to do. . . .”  The truth is no one can force us to do anything.  Everything we do, we do of our own will and choice.  Looking at it that way, we can change our attitudes about what we do.  That’s why my resolution this year is to stop making goals, at least stop making arbitrary goals.  I want to learn to enjoy the things I do, even cleaning my room, and especially enjoy the things that I want to do.