I was 14 and LOVED chocolate. I now cringe at how much attention I called to myself every time I was in a situation where chocolate was involved and I explained in detail why I wasn’t having any. What a martyr I was.
In August of that year, at tennis camp, my friend inadvertently fed me a chocolate flavored Jelly Belly when I was blindfolded and we were doing a taste test. I spit it out as soon as I tasted the forbidden flavor and we all agreed that I hadn’t broken my resolution because there was no actual chocolate in the Jelly Belly.
At the end of the year I was about 5 pounds lighter. It was such a non-event when the year ended and I ate chocolate again. I wish I had a great story about THE chocolate I broke my sanction with. I can’t even remember what it was! So much for that year! What a waste!
Now I try to make meaningful, productive, positive resolutions. Here are mine for this year:
- To take time each day to notice the day, how it’s going and cherish it instead of letting it pass me by in my busy-ness
- To enroll my daughters in movement classes like gymnastics or yoga or ballet
- To use fewer paper and plastic products. My sisters gave me some cloth napkins and some home-made cloth farmer’s market bags for Christmas that will help me with this one. Maybe the ShamWow my husband and I gave each other for Christmas will also help with paper towel waste!
- To learn more about green detergents and cleaners and find brands that do the job well and don’t ruin the earth
- To stay in shape and exercise the dog more
- To try one new recipe a month
- To stay on top of the news
- To write thank you notes faster!
You may have had to bring up the drama as the long-suffering martyr to sell yourself on the idea, but you did teach yourself how to delay gratification in the process. Life can teach us that virtue is its own reward. We can count ourselves blessed if we have the ability to put off temptation, as we see the misery that comes with always giving in.
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