What do you do on New Year’s Eve? You wish everyone "All the Best", you accept a dram of Scotland’s finest malt whisky, you sing "Auld Lang Syne", you wait for your "first foot", and you make New Year’s Resolutions.
Not sure what New Year’s Resolution to make this year? Ever wondered what resolutions other people make? Here are a few of the most popular from which you can take your pick.
1. Stop Smoking
With the social and financial pressure mounting to quit smoking and the growth in legal bans on smoking in public places, this one is sure to be top of many people’s list of New Year’s Resolutions. It's probably the best thing a person can do to improve his or her health, so go on, make this the year you quit.
2. Get Fit
Another New Year’s Resolution to do with health. By the end of the Christmas holiday, most people feel as though they’ve overindulged: too much food and drink and not enough exercise. Gyms and health clubs experience their biggest jump in membership in January. Will you be one of those signing up for a fitness regime?
3. Losing Weight
Another New Year’s Resolution in the area of keeping kit. The best way to do this is to eat a little less and exercise a little more over a long period of time. That’s two more resolutions:
4. Eat a Little Less (or a little more if you're underweight)
Healthy eating and a better exercise regime is key to feeling better in yourself. Use your New Year Resolutions to motivate you to do better next year.
5. Exercise a Little More
The flip side of eating better is to take some more exercise. A New Year's morning walk can make you feel good about keeping your resolutions.
6. Learn Something New
Many people use their New Year’s Resolution as a motivation to take a class in something they’ve always wanted to do. Perhaps you’ve always wanted to learn how to paint or how to write novels or poetry. Or perhaps it's how to use your computer better. Will you be one of those signing up for something new this year? Whichever it is, using the brain is the best way of keeping it young.
7. Live a Calmer Life and Spend more Time with the Family
Perhaps it’s the time spent away from the hurly-burly of modern life and the time that’s spent with the family over the Christmas holiday that makes this resolution one of the most popular. It's also probably one that will reduce stress levels and help achieve the better health most of us seem to be seeking when we make New Year Resolutions.
8. Clean the Clutter Out of the House
New Year’s Resolutions are all about bringing a new start to one’s life and this is one of the best ways of doing it. De-cluttering and getting rid of the unwanted things you’ve accumulated can be a great way of starting the New Year. As the Romans might have said, "A tidy mind in a tidy home".
9. Stop Spending Quite So Much
Many people’s New Year’s Resolutions reflect the fact that they’ve spent far too much on Christmas! They resolve to spend less in the New Year and lead a simpler, happier life. Many such resolutions are derailed by the January sales! Will you have the resolve the see this one through?
10. Finally, one New Year’s Resolution that you could keep would be to play a game during your New Years Eve Party by thinking of the strangest and funniest resolutions you can. Here’s a start from one website which has given what it thinks are the top ten.
- To work with neglected children. (my own).
- Answer my snail mail with the same enthusiasm with which I answer my e-mail.
- When I hear a funny joke I will not reply, "LOL... LOL!"
- Not to ring the stewardess button on airplanes just to get her phone number.
- Balance my checkbook. (on my nose).
- Think of a password for my computer other than "password."
- Try to figure out why I "really" need 11 e-mail addresses.
- Go into McDonald's and order a McSpreader
- Go into McDonald's and order a McSlurry
- Find out why the correspondence course on "Mail Fraud" that I purchased never showed up.
Can you beat them?
All the very best for a very Happy New Year!
Alistair McCulloch - Alistair McCulloch has been listening to good music since his early teenage years in the 1960s. It is his genuine belief that music ...
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