Distilling Some Thought on Resolution

Yea, the season of resolutions has returned. And, with it, renewed zeal for weight loss, inspired hopes to break less-desirable habits in favor of forming better ones, and plenty more. To me, there seems some modicum of logic applied to this behavioral revision. It is the changing of a year, a fresh start, and the pinnacle of the ‘I’ll start Monday’ notions. As one somewhat involved in the health and wellness field, I’ve always found it much more curious. Why not start now? How does a date of 1/1/__ change your intention (assuming there’s merit)? But, I digress…let me clear the air by emphatically stating – I take no issue with New Year resolutions. Wholeheartedly, I support any favorable behaviorial change.

While thinking on resolutions, I inevitably began to dissect the actual word. If you know me, you know I like words – their structure, origin, nature, meaning. You can’t spell etymology without the ‘g’ (nor geek). Stay with me, here…

resolution…

re – ‘again’ or to move ‘backward’

solution…

root word: solve

solve – to work out the answer to (a mathematical problem)

hmmm, to move back and work out the answer again…

There I was, resolved to reducing a common noun into it’s elemental parts, trying to tease out insightful deductions, when it struck me, like an apple to the skull – eureka! Except my epiphany was much, much less weighty than Newton’s (I hope the puns aren’t for nothing). My attempts to find hidden insights are an exact – maybe not exactly – analogy for New Year resolutions. I was taking a simple word and attempting to turn it into something complex. Why? I knew the definition, but I sought intricacy…while possessing proper understanding. We, resolutioners, behave in the same manner. We state a definitive goal of _____. It’s likely we know the path to achieve said goal – just like I knew the meaning of resolution. Typically, the solution involves consistent behavior in alignment with our goal – so simple. However, for some reason, we seek complexity when simplicity would otherwise prevail. In short, we try to reinvent the wheel when it already works rather well. Perhaps during this goal-setting season, we might all consider better tuning our other resolution (see: vision). May we focus on the finer degrees of a detailed life. Life…in technicolor. Anyone?

It isn’t lost on me – the timely nature of this post. Yes, the Outlier Challenge 2.0 is a few short days away. What will it involve? Check your email and review updated rules, scoring and structures. I promise, we didn’t reinvent the nature of the challenge. Why should we? The age-old axioms of nutrition and behavior still ring true.

To err is human to [begin again] divine,

G-

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