Where does time go? It seems like just yesterday we bid farewell to 2013 and welcomed 2014 with open arms, a smile on our face and a song in our hearts as we meticulously planned every second in order to stay true to our resolutions. And what age old resolution is always made on the first day of the year and unceremoniously dumped straight after? The health resolution.
At first it does not seem like such a difficult task; you watch what you eat and try to inject exercise into your daily routine by walking around the office, parking farther from the building and taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Those that are adventurous (and well off) mistakenly believe that by paying for a gym membership upfront they will motivate themselves to go to the gym, much to the amusement of Gym owners who prey on this mentality by offering discounts early in the year knowing full well that no one in their right minds will show up on February 1st.
However, this is Kuwait we are talking about! When the weather is nice (for a third or so of the year) we try to enjoy by going to a quaint restaurant and sitting outside, or driving down the Gulf road with the windows down and the music blaring, and when it is hot, humid, or dusty (the rest of the year) we hide off inside our houses and silently curse our abysmal luck at not having started our resolution faster, for before you know it it’s June and all you were able to belt in terms of bicep curls was lifting that fat, juicy, greasy burger off the plate and into your mouth.
Day by day you choose to delay the physical aspect of your resolve, bragging to anyone who would listen that you will start tomorrow, and justifying eating a meal large enough to feed a small family by sheepishly claiming that you skipped dinner the other day and therefore are entitled a cheat day. Unfortunately, the cheat day has become a cheat week, cheat month, cheat quarter and pretty soon a cheat half year. All the while the only thing enlarging is your waistline, and the only thing hardening is the feeling of dread at the pit of your stomach that had you started earlier, you would not be in such a precarious position!
The problem with resolutions is finding the resolve to back them up. It is quite easy to get lost in a sea of commitments and obligations, from late night sittings at the office eating into your “you” time, to sleeping in on the weekend to make up for the late office sitting! It is a vicious circle that, if not broken, will continue to eat away at your personal time to the point where your entire existence becomes centered around the office and your bed (or one and the same if you work from home).
What people fail to realize is that the corporate wheel stops for no one; whatever work you do not finish today will be there tomorrow, and whatever work you leave behind will be taken up by someone else. It is the conundrum of the one-track-mind; of looking ahead and seeing nothing except bills, bills and more bills, completely oblivious to the world around you and neglecting that which is your most prized possession; your health.
The goal of any summer resolution is not to get into shape, but to attain a healthy existence; it is not to have a chiseled physique that would make a Greek sculptor jealous, but to have the ability to enjoy a simple walk without complaining of aches and pains in every nook and cranny of your body.
So instead of making it an annual goal to lose weight, make it a life decision to be healthy. By looking at the task as a series of daily steps instead of one monumental life changing decision, you just might be able to recycle that resolution!
