I Solemnly Swear

Why do so many of us wait until January 1st to try and change the things that we do not like about ourselves, then suffer through all of January –some brave souls even lasting through February or March—until at last we let go of our crazy diets and ridiculously exotic and Impossible to continue exercise regimes, and go on with our lives until next January rolls around. Why do we keep setting ourselves up for failure and break the empty promises we make to ourselves? Which is better, resolve to do 30 pushups a day or 3 pushups a day. Which will we be more likely to do all year long? For the next ten years?  Why not resolve to love the parts of ourselves that we do not like and work with those shortcomings (real or imagined) as a kindly and patiently and God when He works with us and any real shortcomings we do have.  
Here is my New Year’s Resolution. I solemnly swear that I will respect myself by making promises to myself that I can keep. I will be kind to myself when I mess up, ask God for forgiveness, and get back up and try again. I will love myself as I am now even as I love my potential and strive to fulfill that potential. I will recognize that if we climb a mountain step by step, we will eventually get to the top, and the same goes for the mountains of life we must climb.