The Two Things I Don’t Need to Change About Myself

I always like to do an assessment when the year changes. I reflect on the past year and think about the coming year and consider whether I want to set some goals. Some years I make resolutions, some years I don’t. I just do what feels right. It has become a lot harder to make and keep resolutions as I’ve gotten older, though. I’m almost rebellious about it now. 

The other day I was reading through some New Year writing prompts, and one of the questions was, “What do you not need to change about yourself?” I thought this was  a really good thing to think about - we always focus on what we need to improve, and we don’t always give ourselves credit for the things we are already doing well. I liked this idea so much that I thought maybe it could be my mantra going into the new year. Perhaps instead of setting goals to change or improve this or that, I could just spend a year celebrating what I don’t need to change about myself. So I sat down to make a list, and well, I couldn’t think of anything. For days I racked my brain trying to come up with something about me that doesn’t need improvement. It was actually kind of depressing because I realized I’m not really thriving in any part of my life. I’m just scraping by; constantly in survival mode. I yell at my kids. I’m mean to my husband. I don’t take care of myself. I’m addicted to my phone. I’m lazy. I overspend. I overeat. I’m super judgmental and critical. I’m spiritually defunct. Everything about me could use a bit of improvement. I’m not even trying to be mean to myself - it’s just true! There are a lot of things I could work on. 

Finally, after days of deliberation, I came up with two things:

1. Flossing my teeth

2. Grammar

I do not need to change or improve in those areas. I am just fine. I’m really good at flossing. It’s not because I’m morally superior or anything. I just happen to hate having the sensation of anything in my teeth, so I floss all the time. Is my grammar perfect? No. I make errors. But it’s good enough that I can just coast on my grammatical achievements and not worry about improving. 

So there you have it, 2026. This year I will not be getting better at flossing or grammar because I don’t have to.