40
New Year,
New You?
Georgia Drew finds
her resolution
wavering
I
t's January 1st, and as I watch
Big Ben's pyromaniac explosions,
I think to myself, no New Year's
resolutions.
Gasp. I know, it might come as a
shock to many, but I have thought it
over and come to the conclusion that
New Year's resolutions are a waste of
time, and in the long term, will only
make you feel worse about yourself.
Sweeping statement, even for me, but
let's suppose (hypothetically) my New
Year's resolution is to be really healthy
and get fit, one of the more common
choices. Now, my hypothesis ...
You keep up this plan of healthy living
for just under a week, you're feeling
great about yourself. You're going to
keep this up all year! No, sorry, but
frankly you're not; we don't all possess
the determination of Obama. After two
weeks, I'll bet you anything you've
tucked in to a cheeky truffle, or two (or
three), or maybe on the way back from
town, Sainsbury's eternal two for one
on cookies was too cruel to resist. So,
shame aside, you get back up on your
horse.
I can guarantee when you hit February
you'll have forgotten all about your
genius plan, and boom, back to normal
life. So long to the healthy and perfect
and kind you, back to the old you, but
let's face it, if you aren't naturally that
amazingly healthy person, you'll
struggle to keep it up. Face it, humans
aren't perfect. We all have our flaws
however big or small, but leading
yourself into a trap, then failing, only
makes you feel pathetic.
So please, save yourself from the
despair and leave the upset to
someone else this year. Don't let your
year be ruined by a mistake you don't
have to make. Ignore the workout
DVDs, and try and put your time into
something more enriching. Or try
sticking to your resolution and see how
you fare …
The following
articles on the
meaning of
Christmas
originally
appeared in
Pelican Brief.
The Meaning of
Christmas
by Toby Johnson
H
ope. That is what Christmas is
about. The hope that you will get
a good haul under the tree. No
child in the universe really cares whether
Santa or Mum put the presents under the
tree, as long as they're there. The only
reason that a child really cares about
Santa is because they are frightened.
They are frightened of being put on the
'bad list' for not believing. When you
either grow up to realise that he is not
real (or at least I hope he isn't or there
goes the basis of my argument), or you
catch Mum or Dad putting the presents
under the tree, a lot of things happen:
first, you get really annoyed at your
parents for lying to you your entire life to
make you behave, then you become sad
when you realise that Santa has ceased
to exist within your mind, then you laugh
because you realise how ridiculous the
whole prospect is, and then all these
thoughts just disappear as you realise you
really couldn't care less, as long as you
still get presents.
As you get older you naturally want fewer
toys, but neither do you want practical
stuff like shoe polish. However, this is our
parents we are talking about. No matter
how old you get, something will always
slip back in from the years gone past: a
toy gun or a box of toy cars. Like I said,
this is our parents. You'd hope that they
would learn. Well, you can always hope.
Also, for me at least, there is the
underlying sense of hope that other
people around the world are having as
good a time as you are. That niggle right
at the back of my head that just reminds
me how lucky I am to be sitting here,
writing this article, or ripping through the
wrapping paper at Christmas. It is quite a
sobering thought that while you sit there
opening a box containing a PS3 or an
Apple MacBook Pro, another child is falling
asleep in a box, on the streets in a big city
somewhere. For me, it is the force that
stops me, at least partially, from taking
what I have for granted, when I have
infinitely more than children in other
countries, with less fortunate families.
And not just in other countries either: even
in Taunton there are families with almost
nothing compared to most people at this
school.
At Christmas, there is always that thought
in the back of my mind, hoping that there
might be one of these children, just one,
who has escaped poverty and is really
celebrating their Christmas with a loving
family. It's a long shot, but you can
always hope ...