To resolve or not to resolve.
I think it was Shakespeare who said that.
I have an acquaintance who has a birthday very close to new year’s who gave up making resolutions because she said they didn’t feel like a gift.
True.
Resolutions don’t feel very gift-y.
They can feel confining and limiting, a lot like “no” instead of “yes.”
Her solution is to ask herself each year what she is going to say “yes” to.
One year, she said yes to her health and she quit smoking and began exercising.
Another year she said “yes” to healthy relationships.
She got married that year.
Another year she said “yes” to adventures.
If someone asked her to go on a hike, she said “yes.”
If someone asked her to do anything that would normally be outside her comfort zone (if it was legal and nice), she said “yes.”
This year, she’s saying “yes” to herself.
Her kids are old enough that they don’t need her around 24/7.
So, if she wants to go get coffee with a friend, she’s saying “yes” without guilt.
If she wants to sit and read a book, she’s saying “yes” without guilt.
She wasn’t sure what kind of message that would send to her kids.
What do you think?
I thought she would be a good role model, someone who knows that taking time to do what she wants to do is important.
So, what will you say “yes” to in 2026?
Social media has been dotted with new year’s ideas and ways to reframe resolutions—ways that don’t feel like prison sentences.
For example, in one of my favorite blogs, Adulting: Second Half (www.kellyfoota.com), Kelly suggests asking yourself these questions:
1. What did you do in 2025? List everything you can remember doing, one gigantic list.
2. What delighted you? Take a look at the long list and put a star by the things that brought
you joy. What if you did more of those things?
3. How did you improve yourself? I don’t know that all of us need improving, but
enlightenment is always encouraged.
4. What demanded courage? Taking stock of the things that required courage shows you
what you’re capable of even though you might be afraid.
I would add one more.
5. What did you not enjoy? Find a way to reduce doing them in 2026, or a way to not do
them at all. If that’s not possible, how can you make them more enjoyable?
Most people have choices in life.
Sometimes they’re easy to recognize and sometimes those choices seem difficult.
Difficult doesn’t mean impossible or not worth doing.
Find a way.
Be like the main character in a kid’s story.
You have agency; use it.
Tweak your life in little or big ways to make it feel more like the life you want to live.
And I’ll leave you with this: The older we get, the more beautiful life becomes.
Happy New Year and have a fun week,
~ Gail
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