The Best Resolutions Involve Inconveniences

This year, I will lose 50 pounds -- as long as I could still eat what I want. This year, I will quit smoking -- as long as I don't get stressed out. This year, I will find a better job -- when one comes up. This year, I will go back to school -- as long as it fits into my schedule. This year, I will be a more positive person -- as long as I am not around stupid people. Whatever resolutions I make this year, I will do -- until it becomes a pain to do them. Does any of this sound familiar? 

See, when we make resolutions, we make them on the basis that we could keep them as long as it is convenient to do so. As long as the gym around corner from you stays open, then you'll continue to work out. But once that gym closes down, then all the exercising would stop if you can't find a gym that's close to you. If anybody could easily stop exercising because their gym shuts down, then exercising was never important: it was just convenient to do it.

Chasing after goals requires the willingness to be inconvenienced. Teaching ZUMBA fitness classes at the church on Mondays and Thursdays is an inconvenience to my finances. I could be spending that time putting more hours into my delivery gig, and I could wind up making much more money doing so. The ZUMBA fitness classes are on a donation-only basis: sometimes I get nicely compensated, and sometimes I barely get compensated. Not everybody gives donations. So I actually end up losing money by conducting these classes. Why am I still teaching it? Because I believe it's my calling to do so, and I do so with joy. Holding onto these classes is one of my life's goals and it's an extremely important goal. I'm keeping this goal even though I am losing out on some major money.

Sometimes, I get jealous of the guys and gals who do food delivery full-time. They are boasting of making $900, $1,000, $1,700, and even $2,000 PER WEEK! Man, what am I missing out on??? However, I have to remember what I believe my calling in life is leading me to do: homeschool my children, spend lots of time with family, and serve the community, which I do through my fitness classes. All of those goals are extremely important to me, and I pursue these goals with JOY even though keeping these goals have become an inconvenience to my wallet. Yes, keeping these goals could put stress on the bank account, but any goal worth pursuing is a goal that is worth being inconvenienced for.

Actually, simply being inconvenienced is not enough: you need to be willing to look FOOLISH for holding onto that goal. If other people don't think you're insane for being committed to a cause, then your cause is probably not a worthy one.

So, re-examine your resolutions for this new year and ask if these resolutions would make you look foolish to others? Don't worry about making resolutions that people would give you praise for. Think about the resolutions that would inconvenience you, hurt your wallet, and maybe even ruin your relationship with friends and family. Resolutions are simply adorable when they're the same ones that everybody else is making: cut back on sugar, make more money, lose weight, get a better job, find the love of your life, get an education, etc., etc. Resolutions are ugly yet richly rewarding when everybody else is scared to make them. 

Let this new year be the year of making foolish, inconvenient resolutions. These would be the resolutions that would enrich your life. The other, adorable resolutions are just there to kill time.




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