Chapter 42: Evolution or Resolutions?

It is time once again to Stew on this! These days, our focus in looking ahead is on evolution rather than resolutions.

Happy 2026, folks! I hope it is off to a fantastic start for you.

Before I launch into the meat of this chapter, I thought I would let you know that I am going to stick to writing in the first-person singular from now on. When I do use the word, we, I will generally be referring to me and Hillary.

My intention is to make the blog less “teachy” and “preachy;” more personal and, hopefully, more relatable for my readers.

On to the meat…

Hillary and I spent New Year’s Eve as we generally do – we had a quiet evening at home and did our annual ceremony. We shared our 2025 achievements, wrote down some things about ourselves that we want to transform and burned them, and finally, gathered every candle in the house and took turns lighting each one, along with a word representing something we want to bring into the new year.

When all the candles were lit, it looked quite magical. And the house felt full of magic as well.

After that, we successfully stayed awake until the ball fell in New York. I felt successful doing that, though it was still three hours until midnight where I live.

If you noticed, our ceremony did not include New Year’s resolutions. We have not made them for MANY years, perhaps mostly because we got tired of making the same ones every year! These days, our focus in looking ahead is on evolution rather than resolutions.

A bit of historical background before we proceed:

The first day of the new year was historically celebrated closer to April 1^st, to coincide with the spring equinox. That lasted until the Romans came along. They messed with the calendar to the point that it no longer was in synch with the sun. Then they decided to fix things by changing the start of the new year to January 1.

The Romans named the first month of the new calendar after Janus, their God of beginnings, gates, doorways, transitions, time, duality, and endings. He is usually depicted with two faces, one pointing forward and the other backward. Thus, he was able to see ahead and back at same time. At midnight on December 31st, Janus looked backward at the old year and forward to the new.

I imagine you could probably add, “God of New Year’s resolutions” to his impressive resume.

A quick aside: Many folks in the world did not get the memo about the change in New Years’ date and continued celebrating it around April 1^st. They were referred to as “April fools.”

Isn’t this all fascinating?

Back to New Year’s resolutions, which have actually been around way longer than Roman times. They were apparently invented by the ancient Babylonians. The idea was for folks to make the firm intention to return farming equipment they may have borrowed the year before.

I am not sure how that worked out for the Babylonians, but these days, resolutions remain neither a new idea nor an effective one. Indeed, in one study I uncovered, only 52% of the folks surveyed were even confident they would be successful with their resolutions! And only 12% hit their goals.

This is another reason I focus on evolution over resolutions!

The word resolution means “the process of breaking something down into parts.” It literally means, “solving again.”

When I choose to resolve, it implies that life is a problem to be solved rather than a gift to experienced and expressed. It implies that you and I and life are things to be broken down into parts instead of celebrated in their wholeness.

Worse yet, it implies that I will be solving the same problem and breaking it down into parts again and again and again.

Resolutions come from my head. Evolution is a heart job. There is only one part of my anatomy that is ever interested in “breaking things down into parts” or “solving things” repeatedly. It is the part that sits and stews inside my cranium.

Since resolutions come from my head, they almost always come from a place of lack. Evolution, on the other hand, being a thing of the heart, comes from a place of Truth.

Resolutions have me focusing on what is wrong or what is missing. They have me focusing on my weaknesses and shortcomings instead of my strengths and talents.

Resolutions tend to center on WHAT I AM NOT INSTEAD OF WHAT I AM!

I find much more growth potential from knowing my strengths and building on those; from knowing what I am and building on that.

I know that the unlimited nature of Innate Intelligence is what I am. And I know that I can bring more of that to every aspect of my life.

For me, that is the definition of evolution.

The word evolution originally meant “an opening of what was rolled up.” Indeed, evolution is an opening of the heart and an unfolding of the Truth of what I am. I, and you too, are the living, breathing expression of Innate Intelligence, with access to all the love, joy, peace, and abundance in the universe. THAT is what is rolled up within me and THAT is what I can focus on opening up.

My job is to nurture, develop, unfold, acknowledge, and celebrate that seed. This is not self-serving. Everyone I encounter will benefit from my ability to do those things.

It is more than OK for me to focus on what is right about me, if only because most of the time I tend to overlook my strengths and take my positive impact on others for granted.

We just watched the film It’s a Wonderful Life for the umpteenth time. It is another holiday tradition. If you have not seen it, you have a treat in store! Briefly, it is about a man named George Bailey who spends his life making other people’s lives better, which often involves denying his own desires and dreams. It all comes to a head when he runs into financial trouble that can land him in prison, even though none of it is his fault. He decides his family and the world would be better off if he killed himself.

An angel comes down and saves him, and then shows him what the world would be like if he had never been born.

The message resounds: George made MUCH more of a difference than he realized. The same thing is true for me, and for you, too.

In 2026, I intend to devote myself to opening up what was rolled up in me. I intend to stay connected to the feelings that come with doing that. I intend to remind myself daily, and to ask for help when I forget.

Fortunately, I did not borrow any farm equipment in 2025, so I can dedicate the year to evolution over resolutions.

In 2026, by getting clearer on what is good, beautiful and true about myself, I can make a lot more room for the rebirth and renewal that the New Year has represented for 4000 years.

I fully realize that schmootz will happen in 2026. I know I will inevitably encounter my own thoughts of problems, lack, what is wrong, etc. And, by focusing on evolution, I will reframe those events and thoughts as opportunities to access my Universal Bank Account, to open up all the love and bigness that is rolled up within me.

If that resonates, happy opening!

Stew on that, and I will see you next time.

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