Ah yes, it’s that time of the year again. No, not talking about the shining light atop a gloomy year that the holidays bring in our lives – I’m talking about you and your lies. You, naughty Archer.
‘Tis the season to be unsure, indecisive, and have a “reason” to put that much mac and cheese on those plates. What a season to be jolly, indeed. That’s why on this issue of The LaSallian, we asked you how productive you’ve been on keeping those last year resolutions, and for some staying true has been a piece of cake, while for others it’s been the whole cake.
Finally, we ask if by any chance you’d give it one more go at 2014, and as each day passes, we pull closer to the most wonderful time of the year, and time’s almost up, naughty Archer.
Yes, you can!
Those who have fulfilled their yearlong resolution deserve a round of applause, a house and lot and a party thrown by the De La Salle University community. Why? Well, this is hard to do, that’s why!
As many people know, fulfilling a new year’s resolutions is a rare sight. The UFO sighting of commitments, they can range to the most trivial of things such as promising to wash the bathroom to the unattainable, like becoming a member of the Fantastic Four.
However, there are those that are reasonable yet highly difficult to achieve. Carol’s (III, AB-CAM) resolution was to study harder and not let her problems with her friends get in the way. “I keep in mind that it is what I have to do. Commitment is a must!” Commit, she did and now she is happy saying that, as if she won the lottery!
Resolutions like losing weight or studying harder, if put on an enthusiasm-time graph, will show a fast decline of enthusiasm as the year progresses to a point when people just forget. However, some people’s graphs do not end up like this. Elsie (II, AB-PSM) is a good example of this. She promised that she would study harder and aim for the Dean’s List. What is her secret to achieving this? Well, look no further than the College of Science batch governments (Focus, get it?)! In the end she felt happy and overwhelmed, which is obviously well deserved.
No? No problem!
If you do not belong to the higher echelon of people described in the previous part, then that means you are a member of the society comprised of those who do not commit to their resolutions. Welcome to the club, Lasallian!
Why do people make resolutions in the first place? Well, probably because the start of the year means a fresh start, a chance at improvement. A myriad of problems may prevent one from fulfilling a New Year’s Resolution and these may range from laziness to having been abducted by aliens.
Derek (IV, AB-PSM), whose resolution was to have a healthier lifestyle (i.e. less drinking, less TV and more exercise), said “I was able to stick to my new year’s resolution for the first few months of the year, but eventually I lost interest in it. I was probably not motivated enough to pursue my resolution for the whole year. Temptation also set in because most of my friends were pressuring me to go eat with them somewhere and to buy new games and such.”
Serena’s (II, LIM–LGL) commitment was leaning on to the culture and the arts, something that isn’t heard every day. Her exact promise was to watch more movies and musicals as well as write poetry every day. Unfortunately, she was busy so she could not achieve it.
It is good to note that no one blames anyone for not fulfilling that promise you made to yourself at the start of the year. Everyone is human after all.
Why do a resolution if it ain’t broken?
Despite the overwhelming responses on both fulfilling and failing their respective resolutions for 2013, there were some Lasallians who felt that making resolutions at the onset of the year would not have worked for them in the first place.
Leann (II, AB-LIM) shared why she chose not to have a New Year’s resolution. “I didn’t feel [the] need to make one since I’ll probably break or forget about it”, says Leann. While the high possibility of failing to fulfill the resolution was one of the factors for not engaging in one, others saw it differently. Why make a resolution on New Year’s Day when you can do it on any other day?
For other Lasallians, there was no need to make promises to change something about yourself at the beginning of the year because there were 364 other days to make those changes.
Marvin (II, MAE) shares the same sentiments in his statement, “I did not make any. I prefer making goals as the year goes by.” Whether making a resolution at the start of the year will work for you or not, the decision to forego this tradition could be a wise choice for those who do not wish to be disappointed.Maybe not resolutions, but solutions?
If there are some things that we’ve learned from all those inspirational key-chains (which we seem to get every single year) it’s that, “even the most minor changes, can yield major differences”. Not really sure what those key-chain writers mean but for some of our surveyors, maybe even major changes won’t yield that much difference.
It’s not their fault, life can just be really challenging. Here are some resolutions that fit the merriment of the season.
First off we have Maris (IV, AE-MGT) who protests that quitting soda for a year is a tough commitment, considering that there just isn’t any way water would be available in college. Thank you for informing us of this serious dehydration problem, ma’am. Maynilad is on the way.
Another one we give our full support to is Samantha*(II, AB-PSY), who promised to learn pole dancing this year, but sadly couldn’t pull through with “lack of time and/or money.” Any art forms are reinforced by the CAO, and we encourage you to get it done this year. The world needs more artists.
Finally, we find Jeff (III, AE-APC) whose big goal for the year was to get fat. Yes, folks. As we all struggle to lose a single pound, we find Mr. Skinny trying to chow down as much Noche Buena he can to get the weight he desires. He also adds insults to our moral as he states that “Hirap, eh.” Not cool, bro.
The spirit of New Year’s is about making a fresh start; even if your resolutions did not work out in your favor, it’s not the end of the world.
We may triumph, we may fail, but whatever the outcome, it’s the decision to do so that adds to our character. In an inspirational quote by J.K. Rowling, “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” Also in the words of Chris Martin, “Nobody said it was easy,” but there isn’t much shame for falling off a bit.
Whether it is about losing weight or promising to be a better person, fulfilling that resolution takes a lot of effort. So if your New Year’s resolution was a success, then hats off to you for sticking with your commitment. However, if you did not get to complete your resolution, lighten up. Remember, there is always next year. Merry Christmas, naughty Archer!
