Color me the New Year’s Grinch. Or maybe just a nod to the cynical side momentarily rearing its head.

Now, I’m not bemoaning celebrations of the New Year or the festivities that abound on New Year’a Eve (tonight). Lord, no. Although everyone who knows me knows I haven’t actually rung in the flip of the calendar for years (decades?). Early to bed, early to rise is pretty much a 365 day practice, with a few exceptions, none of which are associated with Dec 31. No, I think celebrations are a good thing, especially when the thing being celebrated is worthy. What is being celebrated tonight? Well, to be blunt, it’s hope, of which I’m an incredibly big fan. More on this in a moment.

As I mentioned recently in a post, I tend to be a creature of rhythms and patterns. Most people are, of course, as many sometimes refer to them as routines … the things, both small and large, that help us govern our lives and protect us against unwelcome uncertainty or, even, chaos.

Perhaps the most established point of reference in all of this is the arrival of a new year on our annual calendars. Of course, there is nothing distinctive, really, between December 31 and January 1 but the fact that we flip a digit as we will tonight from an 8 to a 9. A year from now we will even get to flip two digits. 🙂

We all know that this is also the time to take stock of what happened during this last year and to maybe think about what lies ahead. These aren’t just days flowing into other days but, instead, a special break in the action, allowing for a pause and reflection.

This is also the time when, typically, people think about New Year’s resolutions, those promises, whether they are in secret or open to the public, whereby some of us dedicate or rededicate to do something differently. I was thinking about this early the other morning as I have a different perspective.

While thinking about it, a phrase came to mind: Hope springs eternal.

I take this to mean that everyone hopes and everyone hopes all of the time. Yes, some have given up on hope which is just another way of saying they have given into despair.  Please don’t take that as being without empathy. I hope (yes, hope) that I never have to experience pure despair going forward. To me, it’s the antithesis of being alive and fully human.

Setting aside a thing like despair, we are always on the lookout for something better. Perhaps momentary bliss or joy at something truly beautiful that has invaded our regular lives, then fades quickly from its lofty perch. Then, we return to earth with a fondness of the memory but on the lookout for a repeat performance, some thing that will make our lives just a little bit better than they are right now.

Enter New Year’s resolutions. As we all know, good things often come to those who work hard. Not always but often. And, sometimes we need a kick start … a push to rev up the engine so as to help bring about those good things.

I may be in a minority but I need to admit that I’ve never been a fan of making these annual resolutions (or promises or fiats). Honestly, I’ve tried once or twice but they don’t work for me. I suspect they don’t work for me because they don’t motivate me and I suspect they don’t motivate me because they don’t make sense. Maybe it’s just me.

So, these resolutions are all about motivation. And, I guess, the flipping of the calendar and some kind of tradition offers enough motivation for many to seek change now and to be “resolved” to make it happen. All power to them! I’m a big fan of motivation, because I’m a big fan of transformation, seeing it as an expression of our creative nature coupled with the “hope springs eternal” element.

But, once that moment of the flipping of the calendar passes, the effect of that singular point begins to lose its significance. There have to be other factors that allow the motivation to be sustainable. The factors that make for a darn good reason to change our behavior or attitude, regardless of the initial push.

In other words, what really changes anyway? We need to institute practices that are, in fact, disciplines that end up reorienting our lives in deep ways.

Cue in diets and exercise, two of the biggies that are used to bring about weight loss and general good health. Most people don’t like diets and exercise (of any substantial nature) because they’re hard and our lives are already hard enough. How many of us have resolved to lose 10, 20, 30 pounds or more and have even busted our behinds to do it, only to see those pounds return with grim fervency? All of that motivation, all of that hard work, gone. Poof! Talk about a demotivation.

Or, maybe it’s about having a better attitude at work or at home with loved ones. Maybe spend less time doing one thing and more time doing another.

All of these attempts and resolutions spring from hope … a hope that good effort will bring about the desired results. Question: How many of us can recall a New Year’s resolution, either our own or of someone we know, that truly succeeded. In other words, just before the flip to another new year, it was said, “Wow. I truly succeeded. My hard work, begun last January 1st produced all of the intended results!” Or, “you know that resolution I set three years ago? Delivered. In spades. It’s the new normal.”

Well, maybe we know of certain examples but here’s where we get to the nitty gritty of my thoughts on the matter.

Are we regularly surrounding ourselves with the kinds of influences that foster positive change? Are we allowing our challenges the kind of transparency that invites close friends and family in so they can be our support network? Transformation is the real goal and it’s also a powerful (if often hidden) desire for most of us.

I know a person who says he can’t change. I suspect this bothers him on many levels for many reasons. I believe he believes things would be better for him and the people he comes into contact with if he could change but he’s so used to the way things are right now that he really can’t imagine being different.

I know a number of people who have changed dramatically and in very good ways. They have substantially changed their attitudes and behaviors. In many ways, they are new persons, although it could really be said that the innate goodness in them was freed up for full expression and the darker parts (inherent in all of us) lost their grip. These are amazing stories. The cause? Motivation. The starting point? A pure act of almost superhuman will.

Neither of these are tied to a new year.

But, many of us aren’t motivated to do a 180. A full makeover. What we want is to tweak the system, hoping that the tweaking will bring hope forward into reality. Such as “I resolve to be nicer this year.”

Regardless of the reason for the desired change or transformation, I think it’s pretty arbitrary to wait until Dec 31 for a launch point. If the thing is a real thing (not just an off-the-cuff thing conjured up to say “I found a New Year’s resolution”), then it hardly makes sense to delegate to Dec 31 the motivation to dive in. If it’s at all meaningful, why not just do it whenever? As I’ve been trying to say, why not let the problem, coupled with the hope for change, be its own motivation?

There are some things in me that are very hard to change. And there are some things in me that I would have thought were very hard to change but it turns out they weren’t as hard as I’d originally thought. And, there are things in me that I thought were very hard to change and it turns out they were hard to change but change they did. In this sense, I can identify at least somewhat with the challenge facing the person I described earlier.

I am a lifelong educator. As such, I’ve placed my focus, always, on how change in the right direction is a good thing (we can debate what a “right” direction is). Life is a series of adaptations to changing circumstances which are, of course, a fundamental aspect of reality. All living things change to meet those circumstances or else they wither. Withering is in the despair category.

My favorite formula for all change is incredibly simple. I didn’t invent it but have found it, without fail, to be spot on in its accuracy. As easy as 1+1=2. It is that three factors need to exist in balance in order for change to occur. They are Vision, Intention (Will) and Means. For our purposes here, Vision can also be referred to as Hope. Intention/Will can be referred to as Motivation and the Means is the stuff we include to assist us, once our hope is matched with our motivation. Shortchanging any one of these can throw the thing out of whack. This is why New Year’s resolutions (and many hoped for changes) fail. We can be strong on hope but lack the will or the means to bring that hope to reality.

One last emphasis. I think a lot of failures occur when we just don’t develop the means. We don’t expand our tool box to include a lot of features to help us. We aren’t in active support networks, which is a huge means thing, that increases motivation when things are tough. In other words, we can think we can pull ourselves up by our own boot straps but when push comes to shove, it’s not enough and the motivation begins to slip and the hope begins to fade.

Oh, one final thought in what has been a stream of consciousness that has so far not touched on issues of faith. And that is, the example and promises of Jesus can offer a vision that is so powerful and alluring that motivation is enhanced immeasurably.  He also offers many of the resources so, in effect, each of the three factors listed above that are required for change are laid out in a supernatural blueprint. You are welcome to agree or disagree!

With all of that being said, I wish each of you who are reading this a new year filled with hope and promise, a new year that will see changes in you that you’ll reflect back upon and say, “it was good!”

Blessings,

Brad