How many have you broken?
Here we are about to start the second week of January in the new year of 2024. How many of you made New Year’s resolutions and how many have you already broken?
The thing is, people make unrealistic resolutions. Admit it. You do. I used to. Now I don’t. I make resolutions every year but for the last few years I have made realistic ones.
It’s unrealistic to make a resolution that you know you will never be able to accomplish. For instance, you have resolved to quit smoking and you mean it this time. You’ve tried the “cold turkey” methos without any luck. You’ve tried the gum with the same results. It makes you mad at yourself, but not mad enough to try other methods.
You don’t want to wear a patch. And why not? You think it’s ugly. It’ll show under your clothes It’ll cause you to break out. It’s more expensive. That last argument is ludicrous. Cigarettes are way, way too expensive. If you smoke two or more packs a day, you’re spending as much as $10 a day for something that is known to cause major health problems. And if you’re thinking clearly, the patch doesn’t compare.
I was a smoker for a good while. No one in my immediate family smoked. Let’s face it, I was kind of the black sheep of the family. I didn’t care. I liked smoking until I hated it, but I was addicted to nicotine. When my daughter announced to me that she was expecting my first grandchild, she asked if I would try to quit smoking. She didn’t want her first child to associate his or her Grammy with the smell of cigarette smoke.
This gave me pause and 22 years ago I went to the store and bought the least expensive cigarette patches, the step-down kind, and was determined to stop. I did on the very day I put the first patch on my arm. It itched a bit, and in the three months I used them, where I put the patch, was always red for a while. On the day I put that first patch on, I didn’t even smoke an obligatory last cigarette. I’ve never smoked another one. And I’ve never craved one, not ever.
As time went on, I noticed the smell of cigarette smoke on a person’s clothes. Gad!!! Is this how I smelled?? When we were remodeling our home some 10 years ago, I found a jacket way in the back of my closet. I hadn’t worn it in years. I could still smell cigarette smoke on it. Now, heed this if you decide to use the patch. Use it correctly. Don’t take it off to smoke a cigarette. That’s defeating the purpose. Quitting smoking was a New Year’s resolution I won.
Back about five years ago, I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. I was floored. My mother was dying of dementia and my meal of choice was eating boxes of Mike and Ike candies. I don’t know why I chose that candy. I usually eat chocolate of some kind. I decided one day to get a checkup. I’d been 10 years, but I was taking care of my elderly parents who had moved to Calhoun to be with me. Daddy was dying of kidney cancer at the beginning. He died in my arms. Mom had had a heart attack and was still recuperating. It was a difficult time.
To make a long story short, we had an apartment built on our home and Mom came to live in it. She and dad had been married for 67 years when he died. It was really tough on her, but we did okay. She was a joy in my life, but she had always been. We liked to drink tea and eat a Little Debbie cake together. It was in her 5 th year of living with us that her dementia began to become serious. Eventually we had to move her to Morning Pointe where she lived out the rest of her life thinking I was her mother or sister. It was then I was diagnosed with Diabetes.
I didn’t know what to eat anymore that satisfied me. I read voraciously everything I could about this disease. My New Year’s resolution was based on my diagnosis. I (as much as possible} gave up white sugar and sweets. I haven’t eaten a candy bar since 2018 and I love Mounds. I challenged myself. A medication put me in the hospital, the first time I’d ever been in the hospital for illness.
My blood sugar stays low with a minimum of medication, and I’ve maintained a decent weight. I chose two resolutions that I could accomplish. Challenge yourself. And just do it.