My twist on New Year’s Resolutions

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Your Personal Trainer:
Olivia C. Rossi,
RN, MSN
Certified Clinical Exercise Specialist, ACSM

Your Personal Trainer: Re-New Year’s Resolutions—Make Some New but Keep Some Old Ones, Too.

“Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver, the other is gold.” That’s how I’ve come to approach New Year’s resolutions—make some new but keep the old ones that have become a part of you.

I thought of that today, New Year’s Day, when I went out for what has become an annual habit—starting the year with a run. It was a New Year’s resolution in 1974—okay, I’m old—but running is like an old friend, comfortable, always there, slowing down a bit and a very special part of my life. It’s a keeper.

As I was running, I thought about other resolutions. That’s when the idea of “re-newing” came to me. What can I renew? What can I do better? There is something about a brand new calendar year that makes you want to take inventory of what you are doing and what you might like to change or add, to keep or improve.

So, I’ve decided that my New Year’s resolution this year is to renew or get better at something. What crept into my mind and lingered as I ran was the idea of getting better at being in the moment. Have you ever noticed that when you are really in the moment—really involved and engrossed—that the time goes quickly and richly? You are there. You’re not thinking, regretting, or pining about something you did yesterday or last week. You are not making a list or worrying about tomorrow. You are fully engaged in right now.

As I ran along Old River Road in the crisp, cold air of New Year’s Day, I remembered times when I was in the moment—a pottery class I took in my twenties. Three hours of total concentration that produced a work of art, a time of joy. My recent renewal of a childhood activity, ice skating, has become a time of relaxation and enjoyment. Ice skating demands that you be in the moment. I like to stay vertical!
So, that’s my theme this year—to get better at something. How can I be a better friend, a better mom, sister, daughter, wife, nurse—me? The opportunities are daily, endless and need not be big–one thing here, another there. Look out for them. A small, kind, spontaneous act, a phone call, a card, your time, a smile, a word or encouragement, a hug…

It’s a new year with 365 new days and new chances, one day at a time. It’s a new chapter in your continuing story, a chance to change, to add, to do maybe just one something a little better—to resolve, refresh and renew. Try something new but hang on to those old things that work. New Year’s resolutions can become lifelong good habits.

Have a happy, better, re-new year.

Olivia


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