Bargain Central

(From our January 2025 Issue)

Daily Reflections

By Debbie Neal

Improving yourself year after year in areas that fall short of your own expectations is a good thing. Waiting until New Year’s to resolute that is not. According to History.com, the ancient Babylonians were the first people to make New Year's resolutions, some 4,000 years ago. They were also the first to hold recorded celebrations in honor of the new year—though for them the year began not in January but in mid-March, when the crops were planted.

The top 10 resolutions which many consider and reconsider year after year are:

Exercise more.
Lose weight.
Get organized.
Learn a new skill or hobby.
Live life to the fullest.
Save more money / spend less money.
Quit smoking.
Spend more time with family and friends.
Travel more.
Read more.

Transforming your lifestyle is the key to maintaining good physical and mental habits. A would’ve, could’ve, should’ve mindset get you nowhere, yet we continue to reflect on past behavior, then toast to resolutions we more than often fail to keep. You ever wonder why your car’s rear window is smaller than your windshield? Using this analogy when reflecting on the past means that you need to focus more on the big picture (the windshield) and less on the past (the rear window).

I have a personal challenge that worked for me to reduce bad habits and appreciate more out of life. Mine was fasting on a specific problem area, which for me was television bingeing. So, I decided to forego TV watching for 30 days. During those 30 days I read books, including the Bible, and most importantly spent more time with my family. To me, TV was an escape where I would simply tune everything out and live vicariously through the TV reality and entertainment shows. I learned more about my kids and their friends than I’d ever learned before. We created a game night for every Wednesday and bowling on Friday. I really missed TV in the beginning, later reading and family time became something I looked forward to. I even went to the library and became obsessed with audio books and joined a virtual book club. I increased my exercise plan to include walking while listening to gospel music, which to this day I call my “prayer walks” where I get to meditate and rejuvenate for whatever life throws at me. I also switched from coffee to tea to avoid the 3 scoops of sugar and cream that I would add. Thus, reducing my sugar intake. Trying an assortment of tea flavors and tea accessories like infusers, mugs, and iced tea pots has become a fun adventure for me.

Join the challenge, start with one thing, and you know exactly what that is without really thinking about, and then another and another until you’ve created a lifestyle worthy of your expectations.

Hopefully you’ll find that starting something new doesn’t have to wait until the New Year. Happy New Year everyone and good luck on your challenge.

If you know of any local or national bargains you’d like to share with the community, email Bargain Central at contactus@coloradospringskids.com.This column is a reprint from our January 2020 issue.