Claiming Victory over and Resisting "Resolution Resistance"
Posted: Sunday, January 01, 2012
by Christofer French
Rain Dancer Associates, LLC
You may have heard of "insulin resistance", a pre-diabetic and diabetic condition in which your body gets over exposed to insulin so much that it adopts a "non-responsiveness" to the effects of insulin. So the body's problem becomes NOT that your body can't produce insulin anymore, it just does not "listen" or "respond" to insulin like it used to. Apart from biology, common sense teaches us that pounding away with a "stimulus" can have the way of causing the "alarm bell" not to be heard anymore in the same way as in the past. The old parable about "crying wolf" has the same effect. If you run into the village yelling about a dangerous wolf nearby and nothing happens, then the village will stop listening, even though there may indeed be a vicious wolf waiting just outside the village.
Nature Has the Answers
It's the depths of January, and people rise from their still sleep walking ways that they habituated during the holidays. As a species, we have been staying up late partying, even if we aren't Christmas keeping souls. Honestly, we are all trying to rise from the still dark morning and declare in our muted little ways: "I want to lose weight." "I want to be more sociable". "Darn, I just want to do a resolution that will be real six months from now, no matter what it is!"
Think of the Seed in the Ground
Nature teaches us that the growth of a seed is reflective of how new life engenders down here on our planet. Remember your biology teacher talking about the monocotyledons and the dicotyledons. The seed has to be planted. That means in the darkness relatively close to the surface so that it can gain moisture and light, and be blessed with enough warmth so that it doesn't get frozen as it sends its shoots upward.
Too simple? Maybe. But people who have resolutions forget that something new takes weeks to become a habit. Our psyches are like the earth. In order to sprout new things (the results of resolution) we must experience the QUIETUDE OF INITIAL SPROUTING.
So, the second day of your post resolution life, you will look at the spot where you planted and see NOTHING.
Jesus has a parable about how plants are like people and sprouts and plant growth barely thrive, thrive, sprout up and dry out, get planted in stony places and some perish. Think about how resolutions fall into these same kinds of categories. Our resolutions fail for obvious reasons, like little plants they fall subject to all kinds of environmental factors -- some that bring success, many that cause half way success, and some just get ground up in the dry cold stones by the side of the road.
Don't be Positive. Be Real.
So, the problem with resolutions is that if you try to be super positive, you will ultimately lose your vigor and become less positive and then depressed. If you are simply real, you will look at your resolution with a PLAN. Just be real about how long it takes to build a habit; how long it will take to watch your seed sprout and gain strength. Does a gardener have to be emotionally positive about her garden, or does she methodically, day by day, plan what she should do to bring her new garden to reality?
Plan on Getting Through January and February and then the end of March
If you don't believe in astrology, just think about the depths of winter and how hard it is to come up with spring time energy to make your resolutions LIVE! If you will listen to an astrological comparison, you will see the light even more:
In Capricorn, we make practical "goat-like" hard headed determinations about how our future is going to be. That's how we feel on January 2nd with all of our resolutions. Then along comes freaky, out of this world, know-it-all Aquarius. We immediately lose our common sense and wander around in the upper realms. Most of our Capricornian resolutions whither in this month. If they make it through Aquarius, then they splash into dreamy Pisces. Awash in emotional feelings, psychic insights, tidal ruminations and a sense that the world is always going to be oceanic. Resolutions have a hard time making it through intact here too.
Then Comes Aries
Then, if your resolutions are still sprouting and stretching toward the sun, and your steady self has done enough to keep your resolution alive, you hit the vital explosive energy of the Ram. power, zest, explosive energy coursing through your arteries. You are ready to do NEW THINGS.
This is why resolutions generally don't work. If you can make it to the first day of Spring with a resolution intact. Then you can really watch your garden thrive!
Don't get emotional. Tell yourself. This new January 2nd resolution is going to live until March 21, then I am going to succeed, and I will benefit from my new resolutions.
Think about pregnancy. The first few days and weeks, life is microscopic and invisible. Most mothers do not know of the fact of pregnancy for quite a time.
The growth of a seedt. The growth of a zygote. The concept of gestation. These are the things to think about when you come up with a resolution on January 2nd.
It Looks Like Magic
To the unobservant disinterested highly distractible eye, all of this looks like magic. But to the conscious, thoughtful, planning soul, this is not majic, but the wonderment of life itself. Don't think of resolution making as some post-drunken regret, think of it as your chance to create a new life for yourself, no matter how small it might be. Get ready to pat yourself on the back in March.
"Resolution Resistance" does not need to be your problem, just become conscious of other elements besides the pure "formulation" of a resolution and delve more deeply into your psyche, your issues, your "want to" besides just ringing your internal "alarm bell" -- that the old dude/dudette has stepped up to the bar with one more promise that they aren't going to keep.
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Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)very good. the metaphor is sustained, the prose less purple and the usual worthwhile message is there. ThanksMy purple prose is there for those who are already black and blue. Thanks for your comment.
Great advice Christofer. I've never been much into New Year's resolutions. I struggle to come up with them, and then I struggle to keep them... for about a day, when I realize in order to give something up, you have to be willing to let it go. It's not always about the ability to make a change, but wanting to. I have good intentions of making some changes this year and will do the best I can, simply one day at a time. Happy New Year to you!Thanks for your comment.
Sage advice indeed. I plan to pat myself on the back in March because I intend to encourage myself right into spring and warmer temps. By March I'll be a survivor of winter again. My weight resolution? We'll see. This is a terrific article and says a lot!My years show me this. Not just nature. Thanks for your loving treatment.
This is fabulous, and it's great advice, Christofer. I was thinking today that people make resolutions and expect to not have to do any more work! I love what you say - "don't be positive, be real". That's going up on my wall.
I never do resolutions on New Year, I've always thought why wait for one day in the year? But actually I have got some this year; they're born out of what I want to do, though, not what I think I should do but don't really want to! So this article is just perfect for me, thanks!
I hope 2012 is a brilliant year for you.There is so much talk about "positivism". It's easy to say: "I'm positive". If you are being real, it implies more than sentiment. Thanks so much for your comment. I was thinking that that was the most piquant part of the article.Well, thanks :) Yes, I think being real is where the power is.
Realist Optimism! That's the way, thanks for sharing your insights through interesting means, as always.There is what I should coined. Excellent - "Realist Optimism" Sounds like it could be a book!More than a book! And by the way, don't mind 4 stars, was a mistake, it was the best article i read today.Thanks for the good thoughts and the new thoughts. Yours, as always.
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