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The coming of the new year inevitably brings with it the discussion of “New Year’s resolutions.” Personally, I avoid making resolutions. The word is a form of the noun and verb, “resolve.” “Resolve” derives from the Latin resolvere which means “to loosen” or “release.” It is precisely here that I have problems with the concept of a New Year’s resolution.

 

In today’s understanding to resolve is to determine to do something. It is an act of will which requires will power. In other words it is up to me and the strength of my resolve to carry out my resolution. In the rare instances that I have made such a resolution within days my optimistic and virtuous resolve has become the occasion of gritted teeth, slips and finally despair and giving up—with the attendant experience of guilt and self-recrimination. The fact is that trying to make change by sheer will power is almost always an exercise in futility. Not only does it bring an experience of failure and consequent feeling of hopelessness: while the attempt to keep the resolution is being made, the object of the resolution takes on an importance far beyond what it deserves.

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