Don’t make resolutions, make it so

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WA, UNITED STATES

01.28.2015

Story by Staff Sgt. Adam Keith 

19th Public Affairs Detachment

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. - With a new year upon us, it’s that time of year again for resolutions. Proclamations of how we are going to be better this year than we were last year, things we are going to do differently, eat less, exercise more, watch less television, read more books.

It’s a big conversation topic with friends, family and co-workers. When the new year arrives we get to expose our flaws by announcing how we are going to fix them and how this year is going to be different.

But rarer than finding someone without a resolution of some sort, is finding someone in December who has stuck with their January promises the whole year.

Growing up, I was overweight. It was bad while I was in middle school and only got worse in high school. During this period in my life I can’t begin to count the times I told myself that I was going to lose weight, and this time was going to be different than the last time I tried. It never happened. I always gave up, forgot about the promises I made to myself or just quit. It went on like this for a while.

The fact is I didn’t want to change, or at least I didn’t want to put in the work. I used to think it was kind of cheesy when I would hear someone on television talking about weight-loss and how all it took was a “change in lifestyle,” but that’s exactly what was necessary.

It clicked for me in college. I wanted more than I was giving myself. I knew that if I continued to do what I was doing, I was going to end up bigger and unhappy, and it was going to be harder to fix the longer I waited.

I realized that what I had been doing wasn’t working. I was lying to myself. I needed more than words and high hopes to get where I wanted to be; I needed action.

I started running. I watched what I ate. I lost weight. That’s it. After growing up feeling sorry for myself, and the impossibly tough position I thought I was in, it was that easy.

Don’t get me wrong, it took a lot of hard work and it didn’t happen overnight, but it happened. It wasn’t like all the times before, because this time instead of resolving to accomplish something, I just did it. I made a lifestyle change from junk food and inactivity to running and being conscious about what I put into my body.

Then I joined the Army where I was challenged in other ways but I’ve gained more discipline, self-respect and confidence. After six years in the military I have no fear of going back to where I was before because I know that I have it in me to be the person I know I want to be.

Sometimes it takes more than resolutions if you are serious about accomplishing your goals, whatever they may be. This year don’t just resolve to make your life change for the better, make it so.

• Date Taken: 01.28.2015
• Date Posted: 01.28.2015 16:33
• Story ID: 152968
• Location: JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WA, US