My New Year's resolution

The holidays are over and the new year has arrived. And into 2002 came handfuls of people with resolutions to change some aspect of their lives. After failing miserably last year, I personally made no resolutions. Quite frankly, the more I think about it, the more I realize the odds are against us anyway. For one, it\'s winter -- it\'s cold, there\'s snow, wind and little daylight. That alone makes me want to crawl into my nice, warm bed and never leave my house. Also between Thanksgiving and New Year\'s, the average person gains five to 10 lbs. \nWith all of the holiday eating, trips through the drive-thru and late night snacking on chocolate covered pretzels and Christmas tree cookies, I would say I have had my fair share of holiday feasting. I have yet to step on a scale and allow myself to become another statistic, but secretly I know it\'s true. \nStill, I appreciate the people who vow to cut the fat out of their diet, to exercise more or to stop smoking or drinking. It\'s just that I have yet to meet anyone who has honestly kept his or her New Year\'s resolution. One of my roommates lasted a day before she gave in and started smoking again. So why do we torture ourselves every year with unrealistic fantasies of becoming a "new person?" \nSadly enough, I have become one of many people who lack the will power to drop my bad habits in light of a new year. Fortunately, most of the bad habits I have -- biting my fingernails when I am nervous, drinking coffee, staying up into the wee hours of the morning, etc. -- are not easily changeable.\nI think, if anything, I should try to work with what I have and be happy with myself. If there\'s one thing I have learned the hard way over the years, it\'s that at some point you need to just accept who you are, where you are and what you have. Our society has us conditioned never to be satisfied with any aspect of our lives. Commercials are geared toward making women insecure about their bodies, how they dress and what make-up they use to hide their blemishes. Men are influenced into believing they need to drive nice cars to get the women, have a more than ample bank account and work-out with the boys at the gym. But whose reality is that anyway?\nSo the new year has made me realize there isn\'t any reason to change anything about myself. There will always be things I can improve on and it\'s not to say I won\'t, but who needs the pressure right now? I might never reach society\'s standards, but I have no desire to. There are more important things to be concerned about. In fact, I am just crossing my fingers that as it gets colder out, my roommates and I can work out a carpool so we don\'t have to walk to class; otherwise, there\'s a good chance I might not make it. Plus the whole quitting smoking thing provides yet another opportunity for me to gain weight -- not that I am advocating smoking by any means, but when you quit, you gain more weight.\nSo I guess it is a good thing that I didn\'t make any resolutions for the new year after all. There could have been a slight chance that I would have quit smoking or started eating healthier or going to the gym or something like that.