This is actually about one New Year’s resolution and the hassle it has already caused for the resolution maker in question. It is of course hassle that only started because the resolution was shared with friends and colleagues in a polite manner during seasonal conversation. However, this is now regrettable.
The resolution that has been causing all the fuss was that of deciding to only watch three hours of TV a week. Simple. However disclosing this goal to his flatmate the guy, we’ll call him Derek, got off to a wobbly start.
Derek after much celebrating to welcome in the New Year spent January 1st in a fragile state, something that was combated by a lengthy stint on the sofa not reading or writing or staying in touch with friends, but watching TV. This action caused derision from his flatmate. Comments along the lines of, ‘…already broken your resolution then? Didn’t last long…’ Now while some might consider Derek fair game, however he was never in his own mind going to be fiercely stringent about his exposure to TV. It was more a movement towards being more productive, yet now he has berating in his own home to face from a friend he’s referring to politely as the resolution police.
Things got worse for Derek when reciting this tale and thus his resolution to colleagues, who were quick to snare Derek in a conversation about the rule and regulations of such a resolution. Do films count? What about internet TV? Is it OK to watch a boxset? How are you going to get by without watching the F1 season? All valid points sure enough, but not something Derek had believed required separate clauses, bar the F1 issue. Immediately he was forced to spar verbally and qualify all manner of situations around what he referred to as one of the more minor resolutions he’d made. Beside this he is now destined to be reminded of his TV rationing regularly by both friends and work acquaintances… is this a good or bad situation to find himself in?
Derek said as a rule he never shares his resolutions for exactly the reasons that occurred above that have resulted in nagging and incessant reminders from all corners of his social cube. However the pressure can be viewed in two ways. Negatively the annoyance factor might win out and Derek will cave in and feel slightly weary about the whole thing and disappointed by the fact he’s not achieved what he set out to do. Or he might end up taking the bit between his teeth and reacting positively to the pressure and succeed in his aim proving a point to all the doubters in the process.
Either way though, it probably won’t be as pleasant as if he’d kept his resolution to himself and quietly gone about it in his own manner at his own pace…
There is only one new years resolution that Adam Hughes aims to keep in 2012, and that is the discipline to regularly update his new blog Gifts and Cards whilst maintaining a contribution to A Mothers Day Celebration. Being naturally lazy, that might prove quite a challenge.
