Outstanding Club

Today’s Misdirectional Compass Point:

“Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed.” - Cavett Robert

Resolution: finding a solution to a problem

Resoluteness: the trait of being resolute; “his resoluteness carried him through the battle”; “it was his unshakeable resolution to finish the work”

While it makes sense that people have a sense of starting over around the first of the new year, it has always seemed dangerously arbitrary and limiting to tie resolutions strictly to a New Year’s activity. May I humbly suggest that resolutions might make a lot of sense, perhaps even more sense, if they were made in conjunction with other holidays or events?

Can’t figure out what to get someone on Valentine’s Day? Get together as a couple and come up with Valentine’s resolutions! They’re like New Year’s resolutions, except you do them as a couple, they are about how to be romantic for each other all year long instead of one day a year, and you stick to them. It might sound silly, but maybe you’d discover things about what each other wants or needs, or make it a point to go on a date each week even though you’re married and rekindle your relationship every weekend.

Have you been wanting to visit a local museum or art gallery, but you never seem to find the time to do so? What better day than to resolve to visit such places at least four times a year, than on Columbus Day (essentially a holiday about celebrating “discovery”)?!

Even less traditional or well recognized holidays might well be good cause to make a resolution. National Pie Day could inspire you to take up cooking a home-cooked meal more often, or spontaneously go on a date with your spouse to eat pie at your local diner once a month (or week, or whatever). The point is, we always change as people through the whole year, so why only set goals to try to achieve at one semi-arbitrary point during the year? Why should New Year’s have all the fun? The Resolution Revolution is about expanding our minds and getting creative about how to spur ourselves into action in fun, interesting ways.

October 30th is Haunted Refrigerator Night - take this opportunity to clean out the fridge and find those scary things that might be growing in the recesses of your vegetable crisper!

November 21st is World Hello Day - Say hello to five people you have never met before, and if possible strike up a conversation. These could be people at work you’ve passed a hundred times and never met, or a customer at the same store you’re shopping at.

(The Brownielocks site has a great list of additional obscure holidays.)

The point is, if you tie a resolution of achieving some goal to an event or holiday that is more directly related to it, you might find you have a better chance of following through with it.