The unintended consequences of New Year's resolutions

There comes a day when you decide 'enough is enough' and you actually do that thing that you have been trying to do for so long. I don't know what makes this day different from yesterday or the day before or all the days before that, but it is. The change sticks, the wishing stops. The first day of the rest of your life starts. And that night, you can look yourself in the eye, when you look in the mirror, and on that day, you actually like what you see. You kept your word to yourself. You didn't make any empty promises to yourself. You never once said "I'll just start tomorrow". Because you already started. It is tomorrow!

And when you slip up, this time it is not over. It is just learning what works and what doesn't. It is figuring things out. It is working out the kinks of this new life of yours. This little change, in the whole scheme of things, really isn't that much. But little changes add up. Little victories gain territory. Move you forward into lands you once thought lost.

The strangest, most unexpected part is that you now can hear those tiny inner voices loud and clear in your head. The ones you fed to keep quiet. They are ugly little voices. Negative little creatures. "why even try" they chant. "So you did ok today. What about tomorrow? If you don't keep it up tomorrow, then today's hard work is pointless". But now you recognize the little nags for what they really are. And you whisper to them that tomorrow doesn't matter. Only today. You can't control tomorrow or next week but you can control what you do today. What you do right now. And if you can control what you do this minute, when tomorrow comes, you can take control of it too.

Before you know it, you see results. Not big. Not so much that anyone else would notice. But that is ok. Because this is forever. And all you have is time.