The New Year, Chinese or otherwise, has now passed. The parties, and any hangovers（宿醉，遗物）, are long gone. Unfortunately, for many of you, your New Year's resolutions are only memories. The gym bag sits forlorn（被遗忘的） in the corner, the bean sprouts¹（豆芽） wilt² in your fridge. Your intentions were good, I know. You resolved³ to get into a new exercising habit, eat better, spend more time at work, spend more time with the family, or volunteer for a local charity. Or maybe all of the above.

 

To those of you who are sticking to your New Year's resolutions I say CONGRATULATIONS! Don't be too smug. For those of you who have not, I say CONGRATULATIONS! 

 

Why would I congratulate people who haven't stuck to their resolutions? Simple. They MADE resolutions. Deciding to change yourself, really committing to be a better person in some way, is not a decision arrived at easily. The fact that you decided⁴ to change yourself means that you've taken stock⁵ of yourself. You've reflected. You haven't let the powerful forces of rationalization（合理化） prevent you from committing to self-change. 

 

"But," you say, "I failed. That's terrible isn't it? It's so depressing⁶. Why even bother trying if it's so hard?"

 

I have news for you: You are not perfect. You are not all-powerful. Self-change is hard, so it's not terribly surprising that you didn't get it right the first try. So, stop feeling so bad. It's like when someone gets thrown from a horse. What do the horsie-types say? You're supposed to get up, brush the dust off, and get back on that horse! That's what you need to do right now.

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