{Guest Post} A Long December

Hello friends! I'm on a boat right now sailing somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico (be jealous!), so I've enlisted some help from a friend to entertain you while I'm soaking up the sun. His name is Josh and I've known him for about eight years now. While he doesn't have a blog of his own, he is an amazing writer and offered to fill in for me today.

Most people long for January. The first of the year is their chance to make their New Year's Resolutions. Their chance to change everything that they've been thinking about changing for the past few months, or in some cases, just the past few weeks. "New Year, new me." That's usually how the saying goes, right? But why? Why is it that a deadline that has to be set? "THIS is the time I'm finally going to start to change my life!"

It seems to me that people choose the resolution solely because it's when resolutions are supposed to be made. The whole "New Year, new me" concept is basically a person deciding that they're going to make a lifestyle change because that's when you're supposed to change a part of your lifestyle that you're not happy with.

You always hear about gyms being overly crowded in early January... and then they're back to normal no later than mid-February. It's because these people are willing to try, but the commitment just isn't there. 

I've been a victim of it in the past as well. There were many times when I would say "This is the year I'm going to quit drinking!" And, like everyone else, I would drink more in December than usual because, "May as well while I can! No more once the New Year hits!" Few weeks after the first of the year, resolution failed. 

Change isn't something you can plan. Change isn't something you can predict. Change is something that just happens. 

Don't wait to make changes until the calendar moves from December to January. That's just setting yourself up to for a let down when your "resolution" fails.  I once was in a terrible marriage. I swore I would NEVER get married again. Years passed, and here I am engaged. It wasn't planned. It's life. Change happens when you least expect it. You can lose weight. You can quit drinking. You can change your entire life and be happy even after hitting your absolute lowest point and thinking you never will be again. 

I think the moral of this story is that there is hope and opportunity for change no matter what time of year it is. So don't wait for January 1st, and don't get that ball of change rolling until you are good and ready. 

Do you make New Year's resolutions? Have you been able to stick to them?