Saturday Stories #6 New Year’s Resolution Gone Wrong//Pathways
Rediscover a love for fiction, because stories can change the world
These fiction stories are unedited, unfiltered, and written in 15-25 minutes. Please be aware that they may contain intense material related to emotional healing, trauma recovery, and redirected fears. For more information about why we started Saturday Stories see our post:
Written at Berkeley Creative Living Center December 28, 2015
Story
This new year’s Cynthia was going to keep her New Year’s resolution. She was determined. She made them every year, but never kept them. But this year would be different. Son on New Year’s Eve she did the opposite of her resolution that was to go and explore all the pathways around her home. She wanted to walk more and lived in such a beautiful area. Yet, she was afraid of getting lost, afraid that there would be too many pathways and she would get confused. This is also why she seldom drove anywhere that wasn’t familiar.
So bright and early New Year’s Day she set out. It didn’t have to be a long walk/hike. She could start slow and build up to more. She took her backpack and placed water and a snack inside. Then she grabbed her jacket and set off.
There were several paths near her house, which one should she take?” she wondered. She chose the one closet. She walked down wooden steps into a forest. The birds were chirping and the sun was up, but there was frost on the ground. She walked slowly and then she heard a twig snap. Maybe it was a deer. She flung her head around and looked. She could barely see into the dense forest. Then another twig snapped. Whatever it was it was coming closer. She turned around and started running, something she hadn’t done in a very long time. She looked over her shoulder and far off behind her was a child of about five years old. She turned around and started back toward her.
Today’s Insights
Next month, January, one of the check-out questions for the groups I facilitate will be, “What New Year’s Resolution are you breaking?” So often we see changing our mind or not completing a goal as a failure. I’ve experienced a lot of grief over the years because I never got my Marriage and Family Therapist license. I set out on a path, yet found I couldn’t not complete the journey. One of the reasons for this was that I realized that there were a bunch of little kids inside of me who needed help and support. It is only in the last couple of months that I’m beginning to come to terms with this change in direction being life-saving and valuable, rather than a failure. I still sometimes struggle with imposter syndrome in my work and in relationships with those who are licensed. I think I have nothing to bring to the table, nothing to offer, because I’m not licensed. When in reality, I have a lot of lived and learned experience and I am sharing those gifts through my writing and meaningful work. Turning around wasn’t going backward, it was finding a new purpose, it was finding myselves, it was the beginning of my true learning and education and healing.
So, here’s a challenge: make lots of resolutions, but give yourself permission to “break” them. It’s okay to change your mind or to recognize when you need something different. Changing directions or even seemingly going backwards isn’t failing, it might be just what you need.
January 17 is Ditch Your Resolutions Day. About 80% of people who make New Year’s Resolutions don’t keep them—not sure where that stat comes from, but it seems about right doesn’t it? Not keeping the promises you make to yourself at the beginning of the year doesn’t mean you’ve failed. Sometimes it simply means that you expected too much of yourself. Perhaps you need to set smaller goals, or different goals altogether. Perhaps your priorities are not what you thought they were. The success is not in accomplishing the goal, but in what you learned about yourself along the way. Perhaps this is a year to embrace your imperfections, relax, and let go of guilt.
You’re Turn:
If you wish to continue the story in your own creative writing or prose you can start by answering the questions below or just writing what comes and seeing where your imagination takes you.
Fiction Questions:
What happens when the protagonist gets to the child?
Who is the child?
How are both helped by each other?
Prose Questions:
What resolutions are you ditching?
Who or what is the child in your life that you are changing direction for?
How can you find a way to have more compassion and grace for where you’re at now?