A New Take on New Year’s Resolutions

Live healthier. Learn a new hobby. Travel more. Eat less meat. These are just a small handful of the New Year’s resolutions that most of us will have set ourselves at some time in our lives.

But according to Forbes magazine, 80% of New Year’s resolutions just don’t work out.

We often look at New Year’s Eve not just as a time to celebrate, but a fresh start, and resolutions can make us feel like we’re making the most of that. And after losing someone we love, sometimes, that fresh start is exactly what is needed.

The thing is, when we lose someone we love, or are preparing to through a terminal illness, that can be one of the most powerful ways to introduce positive change. Because that change is needed, often to help us through the inevitable grief that we are about to face.

But this change doesn’t have to come from New Year’s resolutions where we vow to be tidier, healthier or more outgoing. It can come from remembering that person in your life, and channelling the ways that they bring brightness to your life.

Our CEO, Dave Jameson, found himself at the foot of this change in 2017 when his dad and Aura’s founder, Paul, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

The news that his dad was facing such a condition that would, eventually, claim his life, took Dave through a cycle of emotions; anger, sadness, why us? Why Dad? Why now?

Of course, with illness and death, there are a million emotions and even more questions, but in Dave’s case, there is also positivity, kindness and, believe it or not, gratitude. Dave says:

“On the evening of my dad’s diagnosis, my parents sat me and my sisters down and told us how our lives were about to change. But what many would think would have been the worst night of our lives, became one of the best, because we came together in a way that our family never had before.

“My dad is a positive man, he always has been – even more so since he was diagnosed. And that’s something I want to keep with me forever. That’s the change I want to make and the practice I want to keep giving myself when he’s not here anymore.

“I’m grateful to be ending another year with my dad here, and we’ll celebrate it together as we always have done, by laughing ‘til we cry and drinking ‘til we can’t see. But this time of year feels even more precious because I have this time with him to channel more of his light, and take it into the new year with me – and every year after.­­­

“I don’t believe you need a New Year’s resolution to start the new year with. If you want to feel better, do better or be better, there’s no better teacher than the people you care about most.”