Forget boring New Year’s resolutions – and go a little bit crazy
Lose weight? Cut down on drinking? It’s time New Year’s resolutions were a bit more exciting, writes Jim Duffy
Did you know that only 12 per cent of New Year resolutions are actually completed? So, as many of you consider what to change in your life in a few day’s time, this statistic is one to bear in mind. Of course, the typical New Year resolutions range from the mundane to the downright boring. There is, typically, losing weight. This promise to oneself stems from having had two weeks of booze and copious amounts of food and adding the usual few extra pounds on the waistline. It’s a New Year-staple resolution. But, by March it’s burst and so are you.
Then there is cutting down on the bevvy. Again the Yuletide and New Year build-up lend themselves to drinking more, and more often, than one would normally do. But alas, this one also falls by the wayside once dry January is over (that is if one has made it to week three...)
Change a job or learn a new skill always make the top ten. But again, these resolutions seem to me to be fairly run of the mill. Nothing too exciting, liberating or downright crazy here eh?
So, why not this New Year forget the usual resolutions and do something wild? Yes, perhaps make 2020 the year when you truly surprise yourself. After all, if Boris Johnson can get to Prime Minister with a majority of over 80, then you too can do the unexpected.
Now coming up with something ‘crazy’ may not be so straightforward. Your version of crazy will not reflect what goes on in my head. So, first up, let’s aim to keep it legal – in this country at least.
That way you do not get the jail and end up in front on a grumpy Sheriff who considers your behaviour puerile and sentences you accordingly. Then, while I would wish you to move way outside your comfort zone, I do not want any silly injuries or pranks that hurt you or others.
So, now we have some form of rule book or better still ‘playbook’, we can re-imagine what our ‘crazy’ new ideas can are and what they will, ultimately, become.
Now this one is one that I’ve always thought totally random, but achievable and worthy of lots of admiration from your chums.
How about you and or a mate jump on a plane and go for a day trip to the likes of Norway and have pint or a cocktail. Simple as that. When someone asks you what you are doing tomorrow you can tell them your off to Norway for a pint.
Put simply, you fly there, hit the capital city, sink a pint of two, then fly back. The aim is not to get sloshed, but to sample an afternoon’s culture enjoying a drink. Surely beats popping down the local pub in the evening. It’s quite crazy really as when someone asks what you did yesterday, you can say you popped over to Oslo for pint. Awesomeness...
So, now that you have increased your carbon footprint by taking one crazy trip to Scandinavia for a beer or G‘N’T, how about offsetting that? Wee Greta Thunberg will be deeply moved if you take the environment into your own hands and not just wait for the government to tax you.
So how about some horticulture next year? Go crazy and plant 12 trees across your city or region. Each month in your garden or in a cool place, take some seeds or a sapling and plant a tree. Name it and map it. It doesn’t need to be a massive greet redwood. Just a small tree that will grow and eat up some carbon dioxide. And you can tell all your friends that you are a new proactive 2020 eco-warrior who will have contributed to the envi
ronment big style by the dawn of 2023. Cool...
The next one is most definitely one I would do, but it will take some thinking about. How about taking a friend and a Bluetooth speaker or “boom-blaster” and doing a dance on the pavement. Not just any pavement, but outside the likes of the Scottish Parliament or a famous building.
Now this will seem crazy for the shy and nervous among you. But, for one minute only, you dance a dance of your choice with some music outside a well-known venue, while being filmed or live-streamed. Who knows, you could start a new craze! Something along these lines will definitely give you something to look back on by December of next year. And seeing others dancing cheers so many people up.
The list is endless and it can be as crazy as you want it to be and your imagination lets you. From sitting down with a coffee with a homeless person and chatting for 30 minutes to entering the X Factor, how crazy it is is up to you.
The aim is to push yourself to accomplish something different and worthwhile that you can look back on with pride. I’ve never sat and chatted with a homeless person. I would find it a bit daunting. But, what I would learn about another human being might be invaluable in so many ways. Some will think you are crazy. But you will have a new insight and probably a new friend.
I’m determined to make 2020 the year when I do something “crazy” each month.
Some will cost me my pocket money for that month, while others will be free and easy.
One is for sure. When I write this piece this time next year, I will have some ‘crazy’ experiences under my belt that will make you smile.