A Resolution

Photo via Clementine Daily

I didn't make a New Year's Resolution this year.

Last year I was adamant about getting fit (or "strong" as I commonly referred to it), and then there was the imminent drop off that happens when I see good food that requires a nap in lieu of a stint on the treadmill afterward. I'm definitely part of that percentage that researchers are always jesting about.

Sorry for being a typical human, you cynics.

But 2014--despite battling the daily debate of croissant* vs. salad--turned out better for me than I anticipated regardless of losing focus of my resolution. Part of it was being part of The Everygirl community that helped me choose various challenges to be mindful of daily, and part of it was coming to terms with my body and the realities that come with living in it.

The revitalized real-woman body movement has come to help me acknowledge that my thighs will always touch, and as I grow older, I come to find my shape endearing. I will still be picky about what groceries I choose and I will forever be hyper-conscious of what I eat and how active I am, but I decided this year I didn't need a declared proclamation to bolster this mindset. It set me up for a level of disappointment and level of self-reproach that I choose not to endure in 2015.

I've had conversations with many of my friends and it seems the same theme rings true-- like a BuzzFeed post, we realize that the things we use to strive for (a late 20's-early 30's existence that resembled an episode of Friends) don't align with where we actually are (8:30 p.m. bedtimes and potentially making enough money to afford organic pasta) or where we are going, (babies, weddings, career changes, cross-state moves) and we don't need resolutions to change these realities.

But it's totally cool. I like getting enough sleep. And splurging on one nice homemade dinner is something I'm okay with-- the alternative being 12 questionably-fitting shirts I didn't need from Target but had to buy because they were on sale. When I think about where I want my year to go, it's less about ostentatious changes and more about tiny adjustments along the way.

Madelynn Furlong, author of the Wide Eyed Legless blog (just scroll down on her site to view the posts) a writer who I find to have a delightfully refreshing perspective this year, just re-grammed the photo above with the caption

"Sharing my New Years resolutions on the blog this morning and learning piece by piece the wom[a]n I want to become." 

I think the latter part of the sentence is the closest I'll get to a resolution this year, if only because I believe we've all inadvertently been practicing this method our whole lives.

Piece by piece. A little at a time, no grand gesture, no movie montage or dramatic knee-drop (not today at least) to creating a year that I can look back on with satisfaction or at the very least with the knowledge that I'm on my way to a better version of myself every day. We have to start somewhere, right?

*I am currently eating a Cheese Danish.