January 2019
We asked our
writers to write
about what New Year's Resolutions they would be making
I resolve to be more intentional
Harry Scherer
Class of 2022
I wonder what the general success
rate of New Year’s resolutions is. It must be less than
10%. While admittedly anecdotal and unscientific, this
arbitrarily surmised statistic offers an invitation to
inquire the purpose of these annual personal promises.
I tell myself that the purpose of these resolutions is self-betterment. But to what end? Well, self-betterment. That does not get me very far. Speaking from the wide breadth of life experience that any 18-year-old has had, it seems that resolutions or self-made promises endure when they are rooted in a deep and fulfilling purpose. Unfortunately, it is
difficult to find that fulfilling purpose in a resolution that is dependent on a date. An unintended consequence of this holiday-centric promise is that it ages the commitment and preserves it in the time that it was made. For example, it would be difficult to imagine someone going to the gym on six out of seven days of the week because it was his or her New Year’s resolution
to do so.
So, it seems that a necessary attitude when drafting possible New Year’s resolutions is moderation. Without a desire to change and improve in the context of moderation, failing to stay consistent with extreme goals will lead to ultimate failure in the entire endeavor. Initially, when I considered whether to attempt to keep resolutions for 2019, I
considered my success from previous years. I did not stay true to the resolution to complete 100 pushups every day. I did not start long-term school work on the day that it was assigned. Finally, with great dismay, I did not keep a resolution to always be working on a puzzle. For some reason, the puzzle phase did not last.
This year, I am intentionally making my resolutions more mission-based and broad. In 2019, I will be more intentional in my daily routine. I was always struck by a classroom poster than hung in my 5th grade science classroom. The sign reminded those who looked upon it to be careful with our thoughts, for they become our words, which become our actions,
which become our habits, which become our character, which becomes our destiny. With this in mind, I hope to place a greater personal regulation on my thoughts, words and actions, for if the classroom poster was correct, those realities will become my destiny.
One arena in which I hope to improve for the next year is staying consistent and true to the widely disseminated advice to go to sleep and rise at the same time every day. While this may appear to be impossible for a college student, I will try my best to stay true to my resolution under the general mission of being intentional, even when it’s time to
sleep. The scientific research is clear regarding the benefits of consistently sufficient sleep. The time that our long-term memories are stored away and when we take in all the information that we received during the day and regenerate to do it all over again on the subsequent day. A night of poor sleep can lead to irritability and generally restricts a day of expected
productivity. Sleep, therefore, has a direct correlation to our destiny.
Another resolution that I hope to enact in the next calendar year is to always be reading a book that has not been assigned as coursework. Reading for pleasure is a practice that seems to be reserved for those with copious amounts of free time with which to spend hours reading without the apparent constraints of intellectual consideration or reading
comprehension questions to be answered. However, it seems to be a therapeutic practice for college students. With the desire to grow my intellectual capacity outside the realm of graded assignments or the possibility of being tested, casual reading seems to be the surest and quickest manner for this growth to be achieved. This resolution is consistent with the attempt to be
more intentional because the practice takes advantage of time that would otherwise be used to come across information on the internet or social media that is presented in an incoherent way. Instead, resolving to always have a book open will give me the opportunity to learn new information, understand thought leadership across disciplines and explore new parts of the world
that I would never have had exposure to without the limitless opportunities that lie in the written word.
Finally, the most extreme resolution that I will attempt for 2019 is limiting time on social media. This will be difficult, because it is one way I communicate with friends from high school. However, it does take up a lot of the day if the app sits on my phone, ready to be opened, without a meaningful alternative to endlessly scrolling through
Instagram. I hope that the short-term benefits will be noticeable. With more time to read the book that will always be open on my desk, spend more face-to-face time with friends, and less political frustrations emerging from the dark recesses of Instagram, I will have successfully completed my resolution to be more intentional. Today, very little of social media leads to
personal development. While the seemingly pure and positive intentions of social media are evident, the deleterious effects of tearing people apart and emphasizing what divides us, instead of what unites us, has proven to have negative side effects on my generation. Spending endless hours on social media does not enhance my freedom, but rather limits and holds it hostage to
sites that have proven to be addictive.
I know that I will learn a lot about myself, others and the world in the next calendar year. Just from my first semester, it is obvious that is a common expectation in college. With the desire to be more intentional in my thoughts, words, actions and habits, I pray that this New Year will build upon solid character and a rising destiny for myself and
others. Happy New Year!
Read other articles by Harry Scherer
New Year, New Me
Angela Guiao
MSMU Class of 2021
Wow. Another year has passed, and
another year is rolling in. And that means a whole new
year of new experiences, new people, and new memories. It
also means a new year of resolutions: New Year’s
resolutions. And, boy, do we know how those end up.
New Year’s resolutions have the infamous reputation of never really working out. Whether the resolution be to lose x amount of weight, to eat healthier, or even to say "I love you" more, they just never seem to go the way we hope.
Of course, in the beginning of the year, we are hopeful. We are determined. We are rejuvenated. We want to change. We want to become a better version of ourselves. And that is great. That is wonderful. But the reality is, sometimes, even most of the time, we are unable to completely fulfill our goals.
So, what is my New Year’s resolution? I know I might be sounding like a Scrooge right about now with all my doubts and grinch-iness. But please don’t get me wrong; I am not saying every single New Year’s resolution has turned out to be a failure. A great number are successful. And I’m pretty sure that if you put your mind to it hard enough, you’d be
able to succeed at whatever you resolve to do as well.
This year, my New Year’s resolution is to be grateful. Year after year, I always wanted to make myself better in many different ways. I am constantly searching for ways to improve my appearance, my work ethic, my life. It has gotten to the point where I realized that in my search to do better, to be better, and to live better, I’ve forgotten what I’ve
already achieved in the past; what I already had.
As a perfectionist, I need to accept that, alike everyone else in the world, I am definitely not perfect. I need to accept that my failure to reach my own expectations does not make me worthless. I can change the way I look, the way I feel, and the way I act, but I don’t think that it will make me feel any better about myself. Why? Because of my
intention. Because of my motivation. I don’t want to change my life because it’s a brand-new year. I want to change my life because I want my life to change!
And that is what I am going to do. I’m going to wait. I’m going to learn to appreciate the things I have and be satisfied with the life I have been given. Sure, there are a bunch of things that I would like to instantly change right now. I think change is good. It’s scary and it’s mysterious, but it’s also healthy. But, I also think that as much as we
may need change, we also need to take a moment where we acknowledge what we have. We must acknowledge where we are grateful for the reality of our life. We must learn to look for the silver lining, even if it’s not always obvious. By appreciating what we have, we are changing our entire view of the world. And maybe, just maybe, that’s a good enough change for us today.
This past year, I returned to school after taking a year off. I was so happy. I walked around campus appreciating every single step, every chance to enter Patriot, every glance at the trees and the buildings I have grown so accustomed to my first year that I spent at the Mount.
I appreciated school and learning so much more now because that opportunity was taken away from me. I brushed off my friend’s complaints about homework and waking up early, because I was so thankful that I actually had something to complain about. You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.
I realized that this feeling and this mindset should not only pertain to school. It should pertain to my whole life, to my entire family, to each of my decisions, and to all of my thoughts. I could not live a life based on negativity. I could not live always expecting the worse to happen or imagining the worst-case scenario. I couldn’t go through life
taking everything for granted!
As I’ve already experienced, you could wake up one day and everything that you thought you had, every privilege that you didn’t appreciate, could disappear suddenly. I don’t want to wake up one morning and realize that I didn’t appreciate my life enough; that I didn’t appreciate my parents, my friends. I don’t want to wake up and realize I wasted my
entire life dreaming of what I could’ve have instead of enjoying everything I already did have.
So, that is why this year my New Year’s resolution is to be grateful. Actually, I take that back. My life resolution is to be grateful because I want to remember to be grateful every single day. I want to appreciate and acknowledge people and things that happen to me. I want to enjoy life. Overall, I want to be happy.
I don’t have a problem with chasing dreams. It’s one of my favorite pastimes. But the luxury of chasing dreams is only there with the acknowledgment of our own realities. Dreams are supposed to be a better reality. But how can we chase something better if we don’t recognize all the amazing things that we already have?
This is a reminder to be happy. It’s a reminder to kiss your mom or your husband or your children every chance you get. This is a reminder to thank God for waking up every morning to live another day and to thank Him for putting you to sleep every single night. It is a reminder that every opportunity is just that: an opportunity. And that not everyone
is as blessed as we are to have a choice.
Read other articles by Angela Guiao
Polishing myself
Morgan Rooney
MSMU Class of 2020
There are so many things I want to do in order to better my life and better the lives of those around me. I could pick 1,000 different resolutions, but I know that if I put the bar too high, I’ll certainly fail. With all of the distractions and important things a college student needs to do, it would be ridiculous to overwhelm myself even more
than I already am. I believe baby steps can sometimes (not always) be the best way to achieve something. Things like breaking a habit, whether that be biting your nails and popping your knuckles are best done all at once with strong determination, yet breaking an addiction such as ingesting too much processed sugar or caffeine is better off done gradually, to reduce the
intensity of withdrawals.
A lot of people I know also tell me they don’t believe in New Year's resolutions because of the fact that you can change any time, and it doesn’t have anything to do with switching from one year to another. I’d compare this to people who say they don’t believe in Valentine’s Day because you should show your significant other love every day. Sure, that
is true, but there is also nothing wrong with setting a specific day to show more affection than usual. I know that for someone who attends the gym regularly, the swarms of new members for the month of January can be incredibly annoying considering that your favorite machine is taken, but it’s better to look around at all the people making an effort to change their lives with
this small step, even if they are not good at following through with their plans.
I have multiple resolutions this year, but again, I try to keep the number to a minimum and keep them achievable. If they aren’t achievable, I would have a greater chance of becoming discouraged and giving up within just a few weeks (or days).
The first resolution would be that I want to start cooking more. As someone who already has to stay on a fairly strict diet for health reasons, I think that it’s important that I start cooking more and learning more about cooking. Not only is it healthier, but I think it could become a good hobby for me and would definitely pay off in the long run for
the day I may have children. Now that I have an on-campus apartment, I have easier access to the equipment and space I need to cook. It’s a learned skill that one cannot be born with (at least I was cheated out of that skill), so the sooner, the better!
Secondly, I want to work hard on being nicer and friendlier to people. Not just when they are in the room, but especially when I am away from them. I don’t feel like I’m ever rude to people to their face (or I at least hope that I’m not, because that has never been my intention), but I am ashamed to admit that from time to time I will talk about other
people in a negative way when they aren’t around. In my opinion, talking about people in a negative light when they are not present leads to nothing but hurt feelings and guilt. I do understand why people do this, as sometimes we all just feel the need to blow off steam and talk to someone about things that are bothering us (including other people), but instead we should take
these frustrations out in other ways that do not have the potential to make anyone upset.
Friendliness goes along with that. As an introverted person, I know how uncomfortable it can be to go to a party and know no one there. I often end up using my phone as a technique to look less awkward at social events. You will rarely find me attending an event alone, and if you do, I must’ve mentally prepared myself to be there. I am very grateful
when someone friendly comes along and starts up a conversation with me. I don’t necessarily not want to talk, I am often just uncomfortable putting myself out there. Small talk is much better than questions like "Are you tired?". "Do you not want to be here?", or "Are you just shy?" These questions are likely to make someone like me even more uncomfortable even if the person
asking this has good intentions. I would love to be that person who can make someone feel more comfortable in these situations rather than making them feel worse about it. I know friendliness really has the power to make someone’s day.
My last resolution that I would like to work on this year is my stubbornness. Yes, me, alike many others can admit that they tend to be stubborn or overly defensive in certain ways. Someone may say something with no harm intended, but if I’m not in the mood for innocent teasing from friends, I definitely can take it the wrong way and throw a snappy,
defensive line back at them. Nobody enjoys spending time with someone who can’t laugh at themselves or is too competitive. Sometimes, I should just take a step back and realize that no one meant anything bad by what they had said. Of course, if someone takes a joke too far, or ventures into a sensitive subject, communication is important and it’s crucial to talk to that
person about what was said, but I also know that I shouldn’t take most things in life too seriously. Provoking people does not make anything better. Life is about enjoying the people around you, not being angry or judgmental all the time.
With enough determination, I would at least like to improve myself in these different ways. I don’t want to change who I am, but instead polish myself to be a better version of who I am that can bring more positive experiences to myself and the people around me, no matter what challenges face me in this coming year. I know it will be a long and
difficult one, but I am only hoping that it will be one that is worth remembering.
Read other articles by Morgan Rooney
Change in my shopping cart
Shea Rowell
Class of 2019
It’s the time of year when an endless stream of "New Year’s Resolution" advertisements take over the news and advertising media. They promise new beginnings and better versions of yourself, promises you’re actually going to keep this year, and to use the common phrases of the season, a "new you." The frustrating thing about the New Year’s message in our culture,
however, is that the vast majority of them are about weight loss. I understand – it is important to take care of your physical health. My frustration, however, stems from the emphasis this places on physical appearance over internal qualities and habits that affect not only yourself but others. This New Year, I would like to take a look at the impact I have on the world
around me.
I resolve to address a problem with the way I look at one of the most basic tasks of daily life: shopping. Until recently, I thought I had this all figured out. Material objects, I thought, are not very important in the grand scheme of things. Therefore, under the feeble banner of "frugality" I have spent my shopping time looking for bargains, usually buying cheaply-made
products over higher quality to save a few dollars. Then, inevitably, the product falls apart and the whole process repeats. I thought this was a responsible way to consume, but recently my perspective has changed. In a class I took last semester on Catholic social teaching, we read Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si’. In this document, Pope Francis points out a flaw in the
developed world’s habits of consumerism. It is a culture he calls the "throwaway culture" which applies not only to our consumption of goods but also our attitudes toward other people. The throwaway culture has a negative impact on the environment, as frivolously discarded goods pile up in landfills, and human rights, as the laborers who produce the goods are unfairly
compensated. The reason this culture thrives is its positive impact on the economy – at least in the short term.
As ashamed as I was to discover this, my shopping habits are proof of my compliance with the throwaway culture. I was willing to ignore the wasteful way I was using goods in order to save money. As much as I try to use and reuse the products I buy, I find myself guilty of the flaw that I thought was a virtue: I don’t value material goods too much, I value them too little.
I was buying goods, as infrequently as possible of course, and, because they cost me little, they were of little value to me. I was not the one who spent hours in a factory stitching the fabric, or in the fields under the heat of the sun harvesting natural resources. I don’t have to see the faces of the exhausted workers whose wages barely make ends meet, or breathe the air
polluted by factory emissions. The product means nothing more to me than the amount of money that I decided it was worth.
For my New Year’s resolution, I would like to change my habits of consumption by renewing my concept of frugality. It is time to replace my short-sighted vision of frugality with a more sustainable one. I will have to think about spending in the long term, and acknowledge that my buying habits impact not only my bank account but also the lives of people whom I will never
meet, and the environmental conditions of the earth. While I admit that to consume only products that meet all the qualifications I would like would be impractical for a variety of reasons, there are practical ways I can improve the way I buy and use goods.
The first is to reuse. The easiest way to avoid adding to the landfills is to stop the constant cycle of buying new and discarding. Instead, buying used items like clothing, books, and furniture will be budget-friendly and environmentally friendly. I’ve also found that thrift shopping is fun, especially because you never quite know what you might find! I would also like to
start donating the items I can no longer use to places that either give or sell them to those who might need them. I owe many of the comforts of my life to the generosity of others. Reusing and donating unneeded goods is a way I can start to give back.
The second way I can be a more attentive consumer is, and this will be more difficult for me, buying higher quality, and therefore higher-priced goods. This will hopefully have two results: the most obvious is that I will take buying more seriously. If I spend more money on higher quality goods, I will be forced to buy less often, to make good use of the goods that I have,
and to take good care of them to prolong their use. If I buy less often, I will throw away less often and contribute less to frivolous waste. The second benefit is less certain, but higher-priced goods are better able to compensate workers fairly.
The third way I resolve to improve my consumer habits helps with worker compensation: buying items produced fair-trade. While the fair-trade movement is still a growing movement and the amount of goods that are available fair trade is still quite limited, there are certain types of goods that are almost always available fair trade. Coffee, tea, chocolate, and sugar can be
found fair trade at Walmart, and gift items like jewelry, handbags, toys, and decorations can be found at fair-trade stores. While they are not labelled "fair-trade", food from local farmers’ markets and items made in the United States abide by local regulations, and have better control of workers’ rights as well.
I know this resolution will be difficult, and I will definitely not be perfect, but changing my habits little by little will help change my path. I can’t change consumer culture as a whole, but I can take steps to reduce its grip on me.
Read other articles by Shea Rowell
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