ARIANE BURGESS: Take time to make a difference when new year comes
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Holyrood Notebook by Ariane Burgess
We're in that in-between time, the in-between time of Christmas festivities and Hogmanay. One celebration is over. The next is yet to come, and until recently, perhaps the more important celebration in Scotland, the start of the new year.
This celebration is historically linked to the winter solstice, the shortest day that signals the return of the light, the journey to the summer solstice, and the longest day.
What I like about this in-between time is that it allows me to slow down and catch my breath. It's an excellent time to reflect on the past year's successes and struggles and find ways to make sense of them.
The in-between time is also when many of us begin to think of the coming year and plans for what we want to accomplish, experience and change in our lives.
It's that time when many of us make New Year's resolutions. We set out with keen determination to change our lives, to do something differently. A quick web search shows that the top three New Year's resolutions are to exercise more, lose weight and get organised. There are others, like quitting smoking, spending more time with family and friends, saving money and living life to the fullest.
But we all know that these resolutions are hard to keep. New Year's resolutions can set us up to fail. We think that we have to accomplish it in the first few weeks of the new year, and if we fall out of the new routine in those first few weeks, then it can be easy to give up. Often, the person who makes an overnight change and sticks to it is held up as an example of success. Most of us give up on resolutions after a few weeks.
But it's important to recognise that change doesn't come all at once and that we all have different approaches to accomplishing a new habit, way of being, or system in our routine. Rather than an overnight success, we need to look at change differently, to see it as a process of ebb and flow to reach the point of accomplishment. This ebb and flow can take months and possibly even years to achieve.
How about giving ourselves six months or more to accomplish a new aspect of ourselves, to give space for the ebb and flow?
It is vital to acknowledge, however, that there are other factors that make change hard. Often, our circumstances set us up to fail. For instance, eating more healthily is challenging when surrounded by unhealthy food in supermarkets, cafes and restaurants or when socialising. You may have chosen to lose weight, but the first thing you see when you walk into your work canteen is yummy-looking chips, all golden and glowing, piled high and irresistible.
Two significant external factors that urgently require us to change are the overall rising temperature of the planet and the rapid decline in nature. Both of these problems have been brought on over time, by how we've set up the way we meet human needs and wants.
I'm grateful that, at last, we acknowledge that our way of living has been at the expense of our fundamental life support systems. The systems that give us clean water, fresh air and good nutrient-rich soils for growing our food.
The next step after acknowledgement is to take action. What could you choose to change over the next six months that would positively impact the climate and nature? Whatever it is, be patient with yourself, ebb and flow your way there.
- Ariane Burgess is a Green MSP for the Highlands and Islands.
