A solution to the resolution
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...The New Year remains the most obvious point in the year to dig up some resolutions. Last year, Statista’s Consumer Insights Survey listed the most common resolutions for Americans as they approached the turn of the year. The top resolution was, somewhat surprisingly, saving more money at 59 percent. After that came exercising more (50%), eating more healthily (47%), and spending more time with family and friends (40%). Then, in quick succession, losing weight (35%), reducing spending on living expenses (26%), spending less time on social media (19%), and reducing stress on the job (19%), took up the slack.
The New Year remains the most obvious point in the year to dig up some resolutions. Last year, Statista’s Consumer Insights Survey listed the most common resolutions for Americans as they approached the turn of the year. The top resolution was, somewhat surprisingly, saving more money at 59 percent. After that came exercising more (50%), eating more healthily (47%), and spending more time with family and friends (40%). Then, in quick succession, losing weight (35%), reducing spending on living expenses (26%), spending less time on social media (19%), and reducing stress on the job (19%), took up the slack.
Whatever the New Year’s resolutions that we come up with, the danger is that after a brave flurry of willpower in the first few weeks, they fall by the wayside. New Year’s resolutions have to be approached very carefully. Jesus points out the value of approaching life with care: “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’” (Lk 14:28-30) That can be applied to any resolution we make to begin 2025.
Of course, in order to avoid failure, the tendency is to furrow the brow, grit the teeth, stick out the chin, stiffen the upper lip, and (if you can still speak after that) mutter, “Right, this time for sure I’m going to stick to my resolution and stay the course.” That might work in the short term, but is not a good long-term strategy.
So, what is a good way to approach the issue of New Year’s resolutions?
If we look back at Jesus’ parable, he continues: “… what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand?” (Lk 14:31) In other words, a good strategy is to take a long look at the resolutions we propose to engage in and decide whether we have the wherewithal to see them through to the end.
The tactic when we come to actually implement our resolutions, and the one that is much more likely to ensure success, is to rely, not on our own strength of will, but on the Holy Spirit. We know that as human beings, generally speaking, our willpower is woefully inadequate in attempting to discipline ourselves into health of body, mind, or spirit. We also know that the Christian life was never meant to be undertaken by exhibiting enormous amounts of true grit. As St. Paul reminds us in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
So, in the battle to implement our resolutions, why not adopt this two-stage strategy: ask the Holy Spirit to help you decide which realistic, healthy, and virtuous resolutions you should adopt; and then lean into the power of the Holy Spirit when attempting to achieve them. That way, when someone asks you, about April time, whether you have kept your New Year’s resolution, you can grin annoyingly and reply, “Yes. How about you?”
