Opinion

Forget New Year’s resolutions; just make mistakes

Heather Zadra
Heather Zadra
This early in the new year, print and digital media can’t say enough about resolutions. On ABC News, it’s the science behind achieving them, while Time.com warns us of the pitfalls that destroy them.

Some outlets, interested in the more complex reasons that cause more than 90 percent of New Year’s resolutions to fail, examine types of goals more likely to succeed than others (see Quartz.com’s December interview of Harvard Education Professor Lisa Lahey, who explains technical versus adaptive goals. It’s worth a read).
But with 20-something adolescent and adult holiday seasons under my belt, I find talk of resolutions year after year tiresome, if not meaningless. If so few of us attain our ill-fated goals, why the renewed expectation and hope each year? And while I can empathize more with Dr. Lahey’s exploration of deep-seated assumptions that doom our goals to failure—and getting to their root if we’re to effect true change—this year I’m more interested in the failures themselves because it’s difficulty and error, not trying harder to be good, that can turn us into better versions of ourselves. As a young woman who believed I did most things pretty well until I became a small fish in the bigger ponds of college and graduate school, I shunned failure most of my early adult life.
Now, in my 30s, I believe failure is where it’s at.
Part of this belated understanding stems from becoming a parent. Nothing puts you in the position of getting it wrong—and having to backtrack, apologize and try again—like being a mom (or dad). And while it’s an unknown for another decade or two how our children will turn out, I’m a different person now than I was eight years ago, when we had our first son. Mistakes have made me confront weaknesses I hadn’t known existed, let alone needed to be dealt with.
What’s more, my mess-ups have given me empathy for other people’s failures.
All too often, I’ve held grudges against friends or acquaintances for some perceived or actual offense. There are problems with doing that, though; not only does it play out awkwardly later on, but I usually find I’ve committed the same transgression I’ve been unwilling to forgive in others. Do that often enough and conviction sets in. It becomes much easier to let go of other people’s missteps.
Getting it wrong also helps me focus on reasonable goals that I can attain. Exercise more? Be kinder to others? Been there, tried all that and failed. But thanks to plenty of practice learning what doesn’t work, I’m developing small strategies that do. Just chasing kids adds up to 4,000 or so steps a day, and that’s something. Getting up 30 minutes before my children do to read and pray helps me to be kinder during the high-stress motions of preparing for school. These are little things, not even resolutions, really. But unless I’d tried—and made a mess of—changing everything I don’t like about myself or my life in one fell swoop, I may not have stumbled across them at all.
So maybe there is a worthwhile return in making resolutions, even if it’s just in the failing of them. In our everyday lives, though, failure is less about resolutions and more about taking risks. When we chance more, we lose more, which can be one of the best things that can happen to us. Risks I wouldn’t have dared to take as a teen—for fear I would demonstrate incompetency or weakness—have helped me, in my 30s, to love people more deeply, to forgive more freely and to try things that don’t come naturally or easily to me. Even when I’ve done it all less than perfectly.
There’s still plenty I’m not willing to do. There’s even more that I get wrong. But failure isn’t nearly as frightening as it used to be. In fact, I’m looking forward to it shaping the person I’m becoming.

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  • Jake Blazon at bat for the Meeker Cowboys. The MHS team brought home two wins against Olathe and lost two against the North Fork Miners. The location for this weekend’s games has not been announced due to weather and field conditions. Read the full story online at ht1885.com.
  • The 2024 Meeker High School boys basketball team held their awards banquet last week. Jace Mobley was named Player of the Western Slope League and all-conference, Ryan Sullivan all-conference, Jonathon Fitzgibbons all-conference, Ethan Quinn honorable mention all-conference, Jacob Simonsen honorable mention all conference. Mobley will play in All State games. Coach Klark Kindler was named Western Slope Coach of the Year. Left to right: Bryan Rosas, Simonsen, Quinn, Fitzgibbons, Mobley and Sullivan.
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Rio Blanco County and the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts are still asking for your help to identify additional hatch-outs of crickets so that control efforts can be put in place. The success of the program will highly depend upon local landowners and the public helping to locate crickets as soon as they hatch.  See last week’s paper for a list of ways to help or contact the County Weed & Pest District at 970-878-9670 or the Conservation District office at 970-878-9838 with any questions. Website: www.WhiteRiverCD.com
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Jake Blazon at bat for the Meeker Cowboys. The MHS team brought home two wins against Olathe and lost two against the North Fork Miners. The location for this weekend’s games has not been announced due to weather and field conditions. Read the full story online at ht1885.com.
Jake Blazon at bat for the Meeker Cowboys. The MHS team brought home two wins against Olathe and lost two against the North Fork Miners. The location for this weekend’s games has not been announced due to weather and field conditions. Read the full story online at ht1885.com.
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The 2024 Meeker High School boys basketball team held their awards banquet last week. Jace Mobley was named Player of the Western Slope League and all-conference, Ryan Sullivan all-conference, Jonathon Fitzgibbons all-conference, Ethan Quinn honorable mention all-conference, Jacob Simonsen honorable mention all conference. Mobley will play in All State games. Coach Klark Kindler was named Western Slope Coach of the Year. Left to right: Bryan Rosas, Simonsen, Quinn, Fitzgibbons, Mobley and Sullivan.
The 2024 Meeker High School boys basketball team held their awards banquet last week. Jace Mobley was named Player of the Western Slope League and all-conference, Ryan Sullivan all-conference, Jonathon Fitzgibbons all-conference, Ethan Quinn honorable mention all-conference, Jacob Simonsen honorable mention all conference. Mobley will play in All State games. Coach Klark Kindler was named Western Slope Coach of the Year. Left to right: Bryan Rosas, Simonsen, Quinn, Fitzgibbons, Mobley and Sullivan.
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It's that time again! Another edition of great local news stories is 
🐰 Hopping 🐰 your way this morning! Catch up on everything thats 🐣 hatching 🐣 in Rio Blanco County this week.
Need a copy? Signing up is fast and easy! Visit our website at ht1885.com/subscribe to get a copy sent to your door every week! 
We appreciate all your continued support!
It's that time again! Another edition of great local news stories is 🐰 Hopping 🐰 your way this morning! Catch up on everything thats 🐣 hatching 🐣 in Rio Blanco County this week. Need a copy? Signing up is fast and easy! Visit our website at ht1885.com/subscribe to get a copy sent to your door every week! We appreciate all your continued support!
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Mormon crickets have hatched near Rangely. They were all sighted on BLM land north of Hwy. 64 near the junction of CR 96 and CR 1, down a dirt road near the Moffat County line. The picture shown was taken yesterday by Mary Meinen from Rangely. She says the crickets are about the size of a ladybug (less than 1/2”). Some of them are actually yellow in color but most of them are darker. They are milling around and getting ready to start moving soon. Note: Photo is not to scale. Rio Blanco County and the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts are still asking for your help to identify additional hatch-outs of crickets so that control efforts can be put in place. The success of the program will highly depend upon local landowners and the public helping to locate crickets as soon as they hatch. See last week’s paper for a list of ways to help or contact the County Weed & Pest District at 970-878-9670 or the Conservation District office at 970-878-9838 with any questions. Website: www.WhiteRiverCD.com
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