One year ago, I wrote down six resolutions at the front of my planner. This morning, I checked my planner again—yep, six resolutions in my handwriting. When I wrote them, I knew that some of them, or even most of them, were a stretch. I understood that I might need several years to achieve them all. I figured, it’s perfectly okay to have longer-term goals. Even if I don’t complete them all this year, I can at least take steps toward them.
But something unexpected happened. As the year progressed, I changed my mind about three—fully half!—of my resolutions. 2023 was an especially transitionary year for me, as I came to a state of physical and mental health that feels not only fresh and exciting, but also healthier and stronger than before.
There is a psychological term to describe this: post-traumatic growth. According to an article in Time magazine called How Trauma Can Change You—For the Better:
“Survivors of all kinds—[the researchers] contacted more than 600 people—said they had much greater inner strength than they ever thought, that they were closer to friends and family members, that life had more meaning, or that they were reorienting their lives towards more fulfilling goals.”
As I reoriented myself during these past few months of post-traumatic growth, I found myself moving in new directions. And three of my old resolutions no longer applied.
For instance, one of my 2023 resolutions was to fill my empty chicken coops with birds again. But over the course of the year, I came to realize that I did not want that, after all. We all have to make choices about that most limited of resources, time. I will always love chickens, but chicken raising is time intensive. I realized that, if I am to have time for other, higher-priority activities, I will have to leave the chicken raising to others. So, despite my sadness, I gave away my coops to a loving home and started ordering egg deliveries from a local farm.
As for the three resolutions I didn’t change my mind about, I achieved two of them. These were concussion-related goals. I wanted to watch a movie and fly in an airplane. Done and done! My last resolution was about long-distance running. I did not achieve this one, but I implemented a regular running routine, and I’ve improved a lot this year, running longer distances than before.
Here’s my tally for this year’s six resolutions:
- Three resolutions: I didn’t achieve them because I changed my mind.
- Two resolutions: I achieved them.
- One resolution: I made progress but did not achieve it. I added it to my 2024 resolutions list.
I’m proud of this accounting. This is a win. When circumstances and aspirations change, it’s better to change course than follow through with something that’s no longer applicable.
What did you do this year?
