Margaret Clayton: Give up wine and chocolate as a New Year resolution? Just be the best you can instead

Every January we think up some grand plan to make our lives better and convince ourselves that this year we will pull it off.

But it’s so easy to fall at the first hurdle, isn’t it?

The slimming one is my most consistently tried, tested, tempted and failed resolution.

Every January since Eve was a girl I have vowed to give up or even cut back on my major dietary sins which are chocolate, potatoes, lemon drizzle cake and white wine – and guess what, they are still in my life, on my plate (not all at once) and happily resident in my midriff bulge.

This year may be the one that I change my habits for a healthy five- a-day of veggies, fruit and salad – but what on earth am I going to do with the boxes of chocolates people gave me for Christmas?

I’ve hidden some around the house hoping I’ll forget where they are. But can anyone tell me why I can never find the receipt I need for this, the instructions for that, the letter I was going to reply to, but never forget where a Cadbury’s nut whirl lives?

I’m also going to organise my address book properly. I have a lovely one bound in black leather and on a rainy day this month I will transfer all the names and details of the people I know into it.

This may take time. I started the project last year but decided to phone people to check they were still living there, got to M and found I strangely know a lot of people whose names begin with that letter.

So my shiny new system was abandoned and I fell back on my cosy old book with its scored out names and descriptions – David from work/Elsie from school/Helen the neighbour who moved away/Carol from church/Linda from that wonderful holiday umpteen years ago.

So the “getting to grips with stuff” kick doesn’t last long. And then I turn to “self improvement” resolutions. Gossiping less. Being patient in queues. Learning to
be more tolerant of the irritating habits of others.

Maybe this year.

I have a colleague whose advice makes sense. “After 40 years of making resolutions then breaking them within a fortnight and feeling wretched about it, I’m setting the bar at zero for 2016 and maybe then I’ll surprise myself if I do something worthwhile in January.”

It’s a noble ambition. But this from a man who earlier said he only planned to drink beer on the days of the week with the word ‘day’ in them and exercise more by getting off the sofa himself to get crisps and sweets rather than bribing his daughter to fetch them.

Truth is we’re all made up of high hopes, big dreams and our feet of clay hold us back.

But standing at the door of a new year we can promise ourselves that we will try to be the best we can be.

We’ll accept our own flaws and excuse others when their little ways drive us potty. This year who knows – anything might happen.

We can only dare to dream.