Resolve to Evolve

It is New Year's Day and it feels like the morning after. The party was kid friendly, so aside from alcohol, I partook in all the trappings and traditions that the holiday has to offer. 

I stayed up way too late. I ate way too much food. I played games, watched the ball drop, and made lots of noise. And, with nary a bit of shame, I wore a funny hat. I did it all. Right down to the New Year's Resolutions.

The resolution seems to have become much maligned these days. Certainly, America has always had its share of cynics, cranks, and just plain grouchy bastards, ready to mock change in any form. They are the ones who certainly don't need to change anything about themselves. Throw social media in the mix and the doubters are allowed to broadcast their snarls like some cantankerous old man shouting at the neighborhood from his porch.   

But to me, any aversion to a New Year's Resolution seems almost unnatural. The Theory of Evolution is premised on the idea that an organism adapts to its environment. In order to survive and thrive it has to change. It has to make itself better. And in general, nothing in evolution happens quickly. It doesn't take a year. Or two. 

Well, sure, maybe if you're an adorable little bacteria, you might be able to whip off some changes fairly quickly. It is easy if you can crank out a few generations in an hour. For for some of us larger organisms, who might wish to become slightly smaller organisms, say about 30 to 50 pounds smaller, who really only have one generation to work with, it can take a little longer. And against all reason, motivation might require something more than a natural urge to survive.

So that is where hope comes in to play. We want things to be better. Most people feel hope in a thousand ways over the course of a year. They want the bad guys to get caught. They want that person to beat cancer. Some people actually think the Cubs will finally do ANYTHING in the playoffs. And others want Rick to escape the clutches of the zombie hordes. If you can feel so much hope outwardly, no matter if we admit it or not, imagine what we feel for ourselves. So no matter how cynical people can be, I just don't believe it.

I certainly can't feel that way. So, I put together my list. The exercise goals, the weight goals, the writing goals, and the lifestyle goals. The kitchen sink. Some of them have been with me for years like old friends. But I have hope. Hope that I can let them go. Hope that the resolve can stay with me all the year. Hope that I can show those cocky little bacteria a thing or two and make 2016 the year for an evolutionary breakthrough.

And then you'll hear this cantankerous old man shouting from his porch, "In your face, bacteria!"