About New Year's Resolutions

Since it is the beginning of the new year, I think it's appropriate to discuss the notion of New Year's resolutions.  This is indeed a cultural phenomenon, when folks feel they can push the reset button in specific areas of their lives and "get away with it".  I say that because too many people are challenged by others when they change their habits, even for the better.  Saying that you're following a New Year's resolution you made to justify your decision to change something in your life kind of gets you off the hook socially, and others are less likely to irrationally feel threatened. But if you stick with it and persevere, then you're liable to be called out for being fanatical, extreme, or even suffering from a disorder.  So when I drove up to my local Gainesville Health and Fitness gym complex a little past nine in the evening on January 2nd, I should have known the parking lot would be crammed...I had to backtrack and park further away: no problem, extra steps for me!  But then after dressing out I walked upstairs to the row of treadmills I like to use and found that almost all of them were taken: that simply does not happen!  H-m-m, evidently there were a lot of the "resolved" that night. Funny thing, though: yesterday and today, during the same time, the number of gym-goers plummeted...no problem finding my favorite treadmill available for action!  I don't know how tenaciously people will hold to their resolutions, but I am confident that, human nature being as base as it often is, the people in their lives will, by and large, be relieved to see them settle back into their respective familiar ruts...