Wear Purple

I really like the idea of new year's resolutions. One year, I went quite overboard and made 10 resolutions each with four to five sub-resolutions. I realise in hindsight that this was rather like putting the concept of new year's resolutions on steroids, but nonetheless, I feel it was a success for that year as I actually kept track of all of the resolutions and sub-resolutions and reviewed them regularly, including a final review at the end of the year where I gave myself a percentage score for each resolution.

An email I came across recently suggested that you make a one-word theme as a new year's resolution. Coincidentally, I have already tried this. For 2007 it was "try new things" (okay, so this is three words, but the sentiment is the same and it's a far cry from having sub-resolutions), and 2008 was about "commitment". The way I use the theme is that during the year, if I am having a dilemma about something, I use the theme to help reach a decision. "Commitment" was about not running away from things when they got hard, pushing on and thinking long term. "Try new things" was about expanding my field of experiences and finding out more about myself.

For 2011, I have decided on the theme "wear purple". You see, for many years, I've believed that purple just doesn't suit me. Which in fact is completely untrue. With my dark skin tones and dark hair, purple is in fact a beautiful colour on me. Although I've known this in theory, there was always something stopping me from wearing purple. A few weeks ago, I decided to end this and bought a great purple top which I happen to love. When I see the top, my first reaction is still "I can't wear this", but then I do, and the world does not end and, more importantly, people do not stare at me when I go outside.

Of course, simply wearing purple is not a very meaningful resolution. But it does make me wonder how many things I assume about my likes and dislikes are true. I believe that people do change over time, and it may be a good idea to test the assumptions every once in a while to avoid being trapped by who you think you are which is based on who you have been in the past.

In many ways, this resolution is similar to "try new things" except that the idea is to re-try old things while keeping an open mind. The aim is to discover more about myself and in particular, about what I find fun. I might be surprised. I hope I will be.