It?s 2017 New Year’s Eve and once again, time to ponder another year ending resolution. How can we forget, when you turn on the television, and you?re overwhelmed with all the diet and fitness commercials promising razor thin waistlines within 24 hours. Not to mention, all these instant miracle machines that will have you looking like a robust teenager even before you dial that 800 number that always ends by ?wait, and there?s even more.?
This year by far my favorite is a piece of plastic that you stand on and twist your body, and of course, you?ll lose weight and look like the gorgeous model and all her amazingly shaped and fit friends dancing at her side.
In marketing, it’s no secret that ?weight loss? products are often fail-safe to market. The reason is simple. They offer hope. Of course, they usually fail but people keep coming back to order the newest and latest new miracle machine or piece of plastic like a revolving door. No kidding, as a marketing consultant, I had once a client who sold a giant rubber band that people would purchase to wear around their waist. The theory was that by wearing the rubber band, it would be a constant reminder not to eat. And people bought it!
I get it. I know first hand what it is to invest in these miracle machines that guarantees an attractive sculptured body in milliseconds just by giving up my credit card.
But as we all know, it?s never that simple. To achieve any worthwhile goal will always require some worthy sacrifice.
All to say this. I?ve never been big on New Year resolutions. But if I were to have one, it would be the same resolution that I try to live every day.
For me, whenever I place vanity and riches of the world at the top of my own value system, I?ve ultimately discovered that whatever I gained that it was never enough. I always wanted more. Whether it was to lose more weight or go earn more money.
Truth be told, in the end and with my last breath on this earth, my last thoughts will surely not be about the amount of weight that I lost or how much younger that I looked or the size of my bank account. It will likely be all about the people that I love and the people who love me.
I always read about men who said that they wished that they?d spent more time with their family. However, I?ve never met one single person who stated that they had spent too much time with family.
As for me, my New Year?s resolution remains the same as yesterday and the week before. Not to fall into the trap of the self-aggrandizement or short-term pleasures of the world by remaining faithfully anchored in prayer, God?s word and serving others.
By doing so, it?s amazing how all this ultimately results in building and maintaining incredible relationships.
I wished that I could say that I am perfect, but of course, I?m far from it. And that?s okay. But this attitude has become a daily habit. And as we all know, your habits eventually become who you are.
All to say this, I hope that you find true joy this year. Plastic or no plastic.