Why I won't be making any New Year resolutions for 2021

Taking part in the Sheffield half marathon now seems like a distant dream

There’s something about looking ahead to what you want to get done, writing it down in a brand new diary or notepad and then making it happen that makes some people thrive. Happiness lies in the joy of achievement, after all.

The practice of making resolutions dates back many centuries, but in recent years they have become something of a running joke, mainly because we make the same ones over and over.

Drink more water, take up Zumba, clean out the cellar, be more tolerant of the in laws. And, because we are only human, we fail at some of them. Over and over.

I looked back at my old diaries, and resolutions. The ones with a definite goal in which it would be embarrassing to fail at, such as running the Sheffield half marathon or losing weight for my wedding, got ticked off.

The ones without – eat at a different restaurant on London Road each month, go to the Peak District more, you know, the fun ones – generally didn’t.

I can’t tell you what was in the 2020 diary because I threw it in the bin about halfway through the Groundhog Day of lockdown. The title ‘best year ever’ on the front cover was too ironic.

When asked if they had any dreams for 2021 on Facebook, many Star readers said all they wanted was life as it used to be.

Simple activities and parts of life they wouldn’t have thought twice about 12 months ago have become almost fantasies. Imagine going to the pub? Or on holiday? Hugging your friend, inside!

So when it came to reflecting on this year, and thinking ahead, I decided not to make any resolutions for the first time in about 15 years.

Instead, I’m just going to hope instead.Hope that the vaccine is rolled out rapidly and more people are protected from Covid. Hope that Sheffield’s businesses weather the storm.

Hope we can all see family in the warm for a cuppa and a chat . Hope that one day soon Sheffield’s amazing restaurants and pubs can reopen and we can visit. Hope that my baby will soon know more than four people. Hope for lovely, no longer boring, normality.