Glimmer Man

“Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life.” -- Robin Sharma

There’s a scene in Woody Allen’s 1971 comedy Bananas where the hero, Fielding Mellish, must defend himself in court.

“This trial is a travesty,” he declares, jumping to his feet. “It's a travesty of a mockery of a sham of a mockery of two mockeries of a sham.”

I haven’t thought about that film in years, but that scene came popping into my head just a few days ago.

At first, I wasn’t sure why, but I’m starting to believe that since we’re about to begin a new year, my cynical subconscious mind was making a not-to-subtle assessment of my ability to stick to my resolutions.

Yeah, I still make New Year’s resolutions. It’s corny, especially at my advanced age, and I usually fall far short of all the grand promises I make, but I still can’t walk into January without some kind of road map—or at least the illusion of one.

I need the fantasy. I want to believe that this year will be different than all those other years, that these latest resolutions will last, unlike all those ones.

I ask a buddy of mine at the gym last week if he planned on making resolutions this year and he shook his head.

“Nah,” he said. “I’m done lying to myself.”

For a second, I was taken aback by the bluntness of his response, but I have to admire the honesty. The guy looked into his heart and decided he wasn’t going to play the game anymore.

Me, I’m a still a sucker. But I’m not alone. More half the people in an Associated Press survey said that will make at least one resolution for 2025.

The AP also found that millennials and Gen Z are especially likely to be on board with making resolutions, with about two-thirds expect to take the plunge, compared with about half of older adults. Women are also more likely than men to say they will set a goal for 2025.

About three in 10 adults choose resolutions involving exercise or eating healthier. Roughly one-quarter said they’ll make a resolution involving losing weight and a similar number said they’ll resolve to make changes about priorities of money or mental health.

I looked at my post from January and saw I had planned on using my left hand—the weaker one—more often to remind myself of the changes I wanted to make in my life.

This Time I Mean It

To be honest, that one kind of got away from me—along with the promises to declutter my apartment, curb the anger and cut out the diet soda.

These are all important goals and I want to make them happen, so my resolutions are going to be more like a reboot.

Nearly 60% adults who made at least one resolution said they had kept all of them a month into the new year, Pew Research said on Jan. 29, while 28% said they have kept some of them. And 13% said they have had kept none of them.

Mel Robbins, one of the self-help gurus I listen to, is encouraging people to decide what they want to start doing next year, what they want stop doing and what they want to continue doing.

I’m think that first and foremost I want to be more present.

I meditate every morning to achieve a state of mindfulness, but I throw that aside the second the timer hits the 20-minute mark, and my brain reverts to its non-stop lightning storm of memories, fantasies, regrets, grudges and fears.

Staying in the now sure feels good when I do it, so I’m going to look to be in the present moment more often.

I say a meme the other day on Instagram that talked about “glimmers”, a term coined by Deb Dana, a clinical social worker who specializes in complex trauma, that is meant to be the opposite of triggers.

While triggers stimulate painful memories or feelings, glimmers are small moments of joy or peace that come from appreciating simple things like the colors of a rainbow, the scent of a flower, or the sound of the rain.

Glimmers can counteract the effects of stress and bring your attention into the present, according to the Newport Institute. They also improve your mood.

When you’re more focused on noticing and appreciating glimmers, you feel less anxious. You might even feel more motivated to accomplish your goals because you have less emotional distress.

“For people who suffer from depression, glimmers can shine a light in the darkness, helping them see the good things in their lives,” the institute said on its website.

That sounds good to me.

So, yes, I will be making resolutions again this year and I will do my very best to keep them.

It may end up being a travesty of a mockery of a sham of a mockery of two mockeries of a sham, but I’ll be glimmering all the way.