Approaching the New Year, Reflecting on the Old

By Rebecca Eberlin, Ph.D.

This year’s holiday season is in full swing. Holiday music is playing, the scents of the season are wafting through the air and people are rushing about trying to finish last minute gift buying. Throughout the last few months we at The UCLA Family Commons have been encouraging families not to get lost in the hustle and bustle, but remember what the holidays are really for: appreciating what we have and celebrating it with our friends and family. Easier said than done… 

Every year we are given the opportunity to start fresh. The New Year is a time to reflect on the changes we want or need in our lives and make plans to follow through on those changes. Research indicates that approximately half of us in the U.S. will set a New Year’s resolution – which is great in theory. The problem is that very few people are able to keep their resolution throughout the year. More than one in three of us will not even start acting on the resolution. Every year I hear more and more people deciding not to set resolutions at all, because they believe they are just setting themselves up for failure.

As December and 2011 come to a close, try something different. Instead of making a New Year’s resolution, make a past year’s reflection. When we work with families here at the Commons, one of the first questions we ask is “What’s great about you as a parent, as a family?” We work to identify what your strengths are and then use those strengths to combat your challenges. So instead of joining the ranks of people who set resolutions to change and then don’t follow through, look back on your family’s past year and identify three things you did well and that you want to make sure you keep doing. If we can learn to hold onto our family’s successes, we can guarantee increases in both self and family esteem. 

Before you jump into 2012, what did you do well in 2011?