Last week, I wrote about New Year’s resolutions to keep your cats happy and healthy. Today, let’s talk about New Year’s resolutions in general. Most people make them. There’s just something irresistible about a new year with its blank slate. The idea of a fresh start has great appeal. Then why is it that year after year, most New Year’s resolutions get broken by the end of January?

I think it’s because there’s an inherent flaw in the term “resolution.” According to Merriam Webster, the definition of resolution is “the act of determining.” There’s nothing there that says we’re actually going to do something. This is why I prefer to set New Year’s intentions. The definition of intention is “a determination to act in a certain way.” The difference is subtle, but one (intention) implies that we are actually determined to do something differently, whereas the other (resolution) simply states that we’ve decided to change something.Continue Reading