CREDIT: JESSICA THOMPSON
New year, same old me...the sweets are just too good to give up.

The biggest lie that we tell ourselves in January is that this year will be different. Thankfully that whole “new year, new me” scam tends to flitter around and die out by around February or March. Unbelievably, some folks have been known to make it until April, those masochistic maniacs.

Let’s be honest with ourselves here. You’re still the same person you were in December. That case of beer just went on sale, waking up at 6 a.m. still sucks and those overpriced concert tickets are getting more expensive by the day. Don’t miss out on life under the guise of ‘improving’ it every January. You and I both know that those ‘bad’ habits are waiting for you just around the corner.

That’s right, to hell with New Year’s resolutions my friend. You can become a better person whenever you feel like. You could do it in July, you could do it in October, you could even do it on Dec. 31, but let’s be serious, there’s way too much cake and booze to make any life decisions on that day.

Trying to keep to a New Year’s resolution is just plain stressful. Everyone’s walking around grumpy and snippy because they’ve tried to change too much about their life while still nursing a hangover from the party. If we all just notched down our elitist mantra of “I’m going to improve myself more than anyone else this year”, the world would be a better place.

Did anyone ever stop and think, “Maybe 2016 sucked so much because everyone was high strung from quitting fast food?” Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? No, no one ever thinks of the negative ramifications of mass stress or of mass disappointment when all those resolutions fall through.

Lots of people regard February as the saddest month of the year and unfortunately winter takes most of the wrap for that claim. Everyone conveniently overlooks the fact that most resolutions have faltered by February and that humans have a natural tendency to get mad at themselves or sulk in guilt when breaking a promise. If we would all just stop lying to ourselves and move on with our lives everything would be just dandy.

While in college, it’s much more important to look after our happiness than it is to save a few bucks by eating only kale all day. If buying chicken wings, sleeping in and splurging on video games keeps someone’s spirits up then keep on trucking. College is a life draining beast and losing a few pounds isn’t worth the strain.

When someone asks what your New Year’s resolution is, just tell them “being happy”. Happiness is the only thing waiting for you when making no resolutions. You will never feel guilty for sleeping in if you were never trying to wake up early in the first place. Just take a moment to reflect on how much negativity you’ve invited into your life by trying to quit all your vices at once. Vices are an important part of who we are. I know we try to imagine that only our morality and virtues are reflections of us but our bad decisions have a vast impact on our lives and on our character. I’m not saying that vices are great but trying to do away with all of them at once isn’t healthy. We got through 2016 acting this way, so why can’t we get through 2017 just the same? Screw resolutions, love yourself.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.