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Our View: Boom and bust cycle

Most people have cleared out their Christmas tree by now and turkey with all of the trimmings are but a distant memory.

Most people have cleared out their Christmas tree by now and holiday eggnog, rum cake and  turkey with all of the trimmings are but a distant memory. The bills are starting to roll in, along with that feeling of perhaps overdoing it yet again, and, as the new year begins to take shape, we are faced with that desire to do better, to pare back and cut down.

But for many of us this feeling lasts but a short while as evidenced by a poll taken early in 2014 which found a quarter of men broke their New Year’s resolution to lose weight after one day.

Who can blame them?

Instead of dining on holiday delicacies, we’re back to the detoxing and juice cleanses; instead of spending on gifts, clothes, new phones and TVs at Christmas, we’re now supposed to cut back our spending and start putting something away for RRSP season.

It’s a boom and bust cycle that’s hard on the nerves, which is why most people simply ignore the traditional New Year’s resolution.

However, for those that feel that need to promote change in 2015, maybe your resolutions could be less personal and more social.

Resolve not to tailgate — at all. Ever. If everyone took up this resolution can you imagine how different it would be to drive our city streets and highways?

Resolve to speed things up at the grocery checkout. This goes out to the people, usually with a large purchase, who insist on reading the checkout magazines and seem genuinely surprised that they have to produce their credit or bank card, store card, or coupons at the time of purchase.

Resolve to stop filling up your Facebook page with selfies.

Resolve to reflect on your actions more than once a year. It’s strange that resolutions are made in January, and not all year long. We can always find things to improve in our lives.