2020 New Year's Resolutions

by

IFW editors

2019 has come and gone. Some of us are sad to say goodbye to a year filled with blessings; some of us are glad to say “See ya!” to a year of tribulations. With the new year comes a clean slate—a blank page, if you will—and the chance to write the next chapter in our lives.

Some of our editors here at IFW have elected to share their New Year’s resolutions. Perhaps they’ll inspire some resolutions of your own—or you can inspire us with your 2020 goals in the comments!

Charl Firbank-King: My “NO” button is broken­—I’m incapable of saying no—so I’m going to fix it.

Rhonda Browning White: I’ve given this New Year’s resolution thing a bit more thought this year, and I have a different take on it than before. I mean, why do we have to resolve to make a marked change on the first day of the year, only to (typically) falter or fail weeks or months later? I mean, there’s enough pressure just to write 2020 instead of 2019, right?

I wonder, why is it that we don’t make resolutions on other days of the year? Our birthdays, for example, seem the perfect time for improvement, considering that’s our personal New Year. Or we can resolve to be more loving on Valentine’s Day, or to make a new beginning on Easter Sunday or the first day of spring. As writers, we can resolve to sit down and write today, the very day we put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. And we can make that same resolution again tomorrow, and the day after that. And we can skip a day (or three), and resolve again when inspiration (or deadline) strikes.

So, I guess what I’m saying is that I am making a new resolution: I’m resolving to resolve to make positive changes on a more frequent basis. And, instead of waiting for New Year’s Day, I’m going to start right now.

Will you join me?

Eric Fritzius: People often fail at keeping resolutions because they shoot at too far a target.  Oooh, I’m gonna exercise every day and lose 50 lbs!  Oooh, I’m gonna keep my office clean and be super productive this year!  Oooh, I’m gonna solve the Riemann Hypothesis!  These sorts of things rarely work out so well.  No, I like to aim at targets that are far more immediately achievable.  I march into the laundry room and announce: “I resolve that I’m gonna find a way to get the cat food dish from where it fell behind the washer, four months back.”  I then go find a magnet and some string and I bob around back there until I come up with cat dish.  I then resolve to celebrate this achieved resolution, possibly with a Reese cup or a libation or possibly both, depending on my proximity to 5 o’clock.  And I move on to resolving to build a little fence that will prevent the cat from knocking his bowl behind the washer anymore.  See, you can knock out two of three small resolutions like that in an afternoon and feel genuinely good about yourself.

Jessica Nelson: As much as I probably need to resolve to hit the gym and eat healthier, I think my resolution for 2020 is to be more mindful of how I react to things. I saw this quote from Charles Swindoll early this year when it made its rounds on social media: “We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.” It really resonated with me. I tend to overreact, and usually in a negative way. So this year, I resolve to be more mindful of my reactions—to not catastrophize, to manage negative emotions and keep them in proportion to the situation, and consciously search for the positive when my instinct is to be pessimistic. So here’s to a more positive 2020!

Sandy Tritt: Resolutions laugh at me.  If I resolve to do or not to do something, within an hour, my resolution lies crumpled in the corner with a huge smirk on its face. Never fails.

So, instead of making a resolution, I want to try something different this year.

Twenty-twenty insinuates perfect vision. Twenty-twenty is the number of our new year. So, I am praying for vision—for the ability to see with clarity, wisdom, and insight—in 2020.  

May 2020 be your year for perfect vision—and success. Best wishes from all of us at IFW.