Twelve

Dear Whoever You Might Be,

      Happy 2013! I feel a bit ridiculous as it seems that the last few posts I've given have been Holiday themed... Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and now New Years.  But it is an important time. A time when one cannot help but think. And thinking leads to writing down thoughts, and here we are.

      At midnight, the world began anew. At midnight, calenders were changed. Kisses were given and received. The ball dropped. The song "Auld Lang Syne" was sung, even though no one really understands its meaning. It all centered around midnight.

      Wanna know what else happened at midnight? Cinderella fled the castle, leaving one glass slipper behind. The carriage turned back into a pumpkin, the horses into mice, the gown into rags. Even though the clock struck twelve, her life went back to the way it was before Fairy Godmother bestowed some magic upon the girl. She had to keep cleaning. Had to keep obeying her evil stepmother. The mice still sang and Cinderella still dreamed. This morning when I woke up, I thought of Cinderella.

      New Years Eve is supposed to be filled with hope and promise and fresh beginnings. People can start over. People resolve to be better, to be different. "This year I am going to eat healthier." "This year, I am going to quit smoking." "This year I am going to seriously commit to the person I love." "This year I am going to reconnect with family I haven't spoken to in years." "This year I am going to go to the Superbowl." Etc, Etc, Etc. New Years resolutions are great and all, but what happens when you wake up on January 1st after making such guarantees? Do you really follow through with them, or at least try to for the first few weeks before giving in? Or do you commit, and I mean really commit, to making sure that next New Years Eve you can look back in satisfaction?

      The reason I felt like Cinderalla is simple. With New Years, everything is supposed to change and be better. It is supposed to be the start of the best year yet! But when my alarm went off this morning, I didn't feel any different. I still had the pimple on my forehead from yesterday. I still put on the same bathrobe I've had since I was fourteen years old. I still drank my cup of tea while watching Boy Meets World before hopping in the shower. The New Year didn't ring in a whole new beginning; it rang in a Tuesday morning. I still have to go to work tomorrow. I still have to return to school on Sunday. Life keeps on trudging alone just as it has the last twelve months, and then some.

      Ah! But what of those great promises? What of the extraordinary resolves I made last night before the stroke of midnight?  Enter the Glass Slipper.

      At midnight, Prince Charming found the last remnants of Cinderella's costume. At that moment, he too made a resolution: He would find the girl whose foot fit into the slipper, regardless of how long it took, even if he had to search the whole kingdom. And boy, did he stick to his promise. Prince Charming searched household after household, foot after foot. Imagine, going around and sticking a shoe on every girls foot to see if its a match.... I hate feet so that is one heck of a committment in my eyes.   The point is that he didn't give up.  After a certain number of trial and error, he didn't think "Well I tried. Maybe I'll just make it next years resolution." Because of his persistance, he found the woman of his dreams and together, they lived happily ever after.

      This was probably the silliest analogy I could have come up with, but I genuinely think it works. What happens at midnight will only change your life if you truly dedicate yourself. Yes, life will go on regardless, as mine did this morning. I didn't feel a great shift in the universe at midnight. I felt resolve. I thought "Even though nothing feels different, I will stick to my resolution." And I think that is what matters- Not that your life is going to be dramtically different from here on out, but that you will strive to do whatever your promised amidst the mundane repetition of daily life.
     
      You want to lose twenty pounds? Great! but don't expect it to happen overnight and more importantly, don't give up after a few months.  You want to quit smoking? Don't go cold turkey, it hardly ever works. No matter what your resolution, don't give up because you expected life to be so much more spectacular by just making a promise and sealing it with a kiss when the ball dropped. Rather, make your life spectacular by not giving in to the pressures of "life getting hard or busy or stressful."

      I won't tell you what my New Years resolution is because personally, I kind of consider it like a Birthday Candle Wish. But I will tell you that I know you can do it. I know you can wake up every day and go one with your routines and still fulfill your promises. I know it may sound disappointing that the exhilaration of a new year will wear after a few days.  That like Cinderella, our carriages too will become yellow pumpkins. But Cinderella did the best she could in her circumstance, and when the time came, she knew she had to try on the slipper like every other girl. And guess what reader? It fit.

                                                                       Sincerely,
                                                                                  Me