BY BECKY SHEASBY
By this time in the new year, your New Year’s resolutions have either kicked you in the butt or you are succeeding with flying colours. To say the least, our nation seems to have a dysfunctional relationship with resolutions. Maybe you started the year off strong, powering through a new workout routine, eating better and making a happier, healthier you. However, the New Year’s high does tend to wear off, leaving you with a sense of failure and guilt.
One writer has become fed up with her dysfunctional relationship with New Year’s and has decided to put a new spin on her resolutions. Chantielle MacFarlane, a Ontario resident, created her New Year’s “F–k it list” on Medium, an Internet site that shares short stories and ideas.
“Fourteen things I’m going to stop giving a f–k about in 2014,” said MacFarlane in her story’s opening. “Because as important as it is to push yourself to be a healthier, more compassionate person, that can be downright impossible. Refusing to give a f–k, however, isn’t just easy – it’s kind of awesome.”
Among MacFarlane’s 14 things are some of the following:
Quitting Vices is No. 5 on her list. She asks the question, “Why are New Year’s resolutions always about ending bad habits?” She goes on to talk about how much she enjoys her vices and how her bad habits have shaped her just as much as her good ones. The key is to have everything in moderation.
Another on MacFarlane’s list is growing up. For this part of her story she simply writes, “And give up my love of dinosaurs and LEGO? F–k that.”
“The idea of being what you’re not is glamorized,” said Kail Walters, a second-year broadcast student at Conestoga College. “Ever since we were young, we’re told that we have to be older to do things like go on a ride, sit in the front or drink. Which is kinda funny; I think everyone gets to a point at which they want to be younger and have the world still glitter and shine.”
MacFarlane also writes about forgetting failures. “I made those mistakes for a reason. The least I can do is learn from them,” MacFarlane said. Also on the list is saving relationships that don’t make you happy, forcing yourself to become a morning person and quitting swearing.
Fitting in can be difficult. MacFarlane talks about her social awkwardness and how in the past she would try and force herself to be outgoing and to fit in. She soon realized that trying to be something you’re not is exhausting. So that’s made the list too.
If your New Year’s resolutions have you down, maybe it’s time to take a look at MacFarlane’s list. It can be found at https://medium.com/life-tips/494224e0f983.
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