Well, here we are, three weeks into a new year. Who else is thinking about this: failed resolutions?
Every year I vow to eat fewer chips, exercise more, and reduce the scroll.
As it turns out, it’s a New Year, Same Me.
I’m convinced that most resolutions fail because, well, resolutions only last as long as our willpower. It’s good to want to change habits and behaviours that don’t serve us well but the things that drive our behaviours are not conscious things.
Yup, I’m human. And sometimes I do human things like eat too many chips, prefer to watch Netflix instead of going for a walk, and scroll endlessly through social media.
Instead of kicking myself right now, I’m going to give myself a little tenderness. Yes, I’m done with resolutions. I’ve decided that this year I’m going to jump on the “Word of the Year”—WOTY—bandwagon instead. Maybe because I believe in the power of words more than my own willpower.
I’m going to “coddiwomple” my way through 2023!
I’d never seen the word “coddiwomple” used anywhere before, until recently while scrolling (that old habit) through my Instagram feed. First I laughed… then I had to know what it meant. A quick Google search revealed an English slang word meaning “to travel in a purposeful manner towards a vague destination.” I said to myself, that’s it! That’s my Word! Mostly because I don’t like to wander aimlessly, nor do I know exactly where I’ll end up. (Does anyone, really?)
What I do know is that I need a sense of purpose and meaning even though I don’t always have a predetermined goal.
Plus… it’s fun to say, isn’t it?
Coddiwomplecoddiwomplecoddiwomple!
Considering how the last few years have gone, not only do I need more humour in my life, but I need to move more intentionally towards my longings. As I look ahead to the new year and come to grips with the realization that there is no idyllic “there,” no one place we arrive at or feel settled in and complete, I need to embrace arriving at new places I never imagined.
Since life always seems to be a constant process of challenge, change and transformation, picking a WOTY at least helps me to set an intention for how I want to travel, live and grow into the coming year. And if I drift a little and keep an open mind, I might just end up exactly where I need to be. No doubt I will take a wrong turn and maybe get lost. Could be fun. Or not.
In any case, it's time to end my relationship with this annual ritual called New Year’s resolutions. It just feels too onerous and constrictive. Picking a word feels less about doing and more about a way of doing and a way of being—a powerful reminder about what warrants my energy and resources. It also helps define how I want to show up for myself and for others. As Henry Miller once said, “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”
So, may your troubles last as long as your New Year’s resolutions. And while I’m coddiwompling, I hope to meet you on the road, travelling resolutely and dynamically towards our as-yet unknown destinations.
Bring chips!
Until The Next…
