It's Okay to Be Cliche

I've never really been one for making New Year's resolutions. Not that I have anything against anyone who does make them. It's just that for me, personally, they seem rather pointless. And they mostly fail. Because January 1st isn't any more magical than any other day, and if you're going to decide to make a change in your life you can do it at any time. No need to wait for a new calendar.

Don't get me wrong. I do like the beginning of a new year. I like the excitement, and the possibilities just waiting to fill up that nice new calendar. For a little while, at least, everything seems fresh and new. So I totally get the hype. I just usually don't do anything about it.

But yesterday when I woke up with somewhat more than normal energy, I was excited to attack the day. (It probably had a little something to do with the kids having spent the previous night at my mom's, which meant that I actually got to sleep past 5. It was awesome.) And as I started making my mental to-do list for the day, I realized that I really felt like working out.

And then I started thinking about how long it had been since I had actually done that with any regularity, and realized that it was longer than I would like to admit. So I decided to take advantage of the quiet house (thanks, Grandma!) and have some healthy me-time. And I was feeling really good about that decision... until I remembered that it was January 1st.

And it all just felt so cliche. How many people swore to anyone who would listen that they were going to start exercising this year? And how many of those people are going to actually do it for a few days, and then go back to parking their buts on the couch because exercise is too much work, and TV is more entertaining? Did I really want to risk looking like one of those people?

It actually took me a little while to convince myself to go ahead and work out anyway, despite the risk of looking cliche. (Sadly, I'm not making that up. I seriously considered waiting a few days just to avoid looking like someone who had made a New Year's resolution.) But in the end, I decided that my desire to exercise and feel good was more important than my desire to avoid looking cliche.

Of course now this means that I will actually have to keep exercising regularly, just to prove that it wasn't just a resolution that will be broken in a few days. So I guess the timing was pretty good after all. :)