The-F-Word.org

In just a few days, thousands of people everywhere are about to make their New Year’s resolutions. A New Year’s resolution is a noteworthy concept – start the year off with a change for the better. So how did the tradition evolve into a subconscious exercise in self-flagellation?

Lindsay over at Babble recently posted her thoughts on the subject. It’s almost as if she peeked inside my brain and summed up what was percolating inside. Writes Lindsey:

I wonder what kind of world we might live in, if instead of “lose weight”, people would instead make a new year’s resolution to “learn more about myself and the people in my life”. Instead of planning to shed pounds, how about working on shedding self-hatred/loathing/dislike/discomfort, or shedding the notion that the way a person looks is really one of the least important qualities about them?

Why not celebrate this new year by trading in those tired (and probably oft-repeated) resolutions for something more purposeful and constructive?

If I hadn’t landed my semi-dream job and met the man I would later marry all in the scope of a few months several years ago, I’d most likely be living in a squalid hut somewhere in Africa working with the Peace Corps. My job, academic and family life now keep me firmly bound in the Midwest but I discovered a way to still help international non-governmental organizations through the United Nations’ Online Volunteer Programme.

The program is ideal for people with a multitude and variety of skillsets: Volunteers are needed with expert advice on a variety of topics, article research and editing, website development or translations to skills in project management, proposal writing, information technology, and print publishing and graphic design.

Organizations register and post jobs, which volunteers can search through and apply for based on skill level, interest and availability – volunteer opportunities are available for as little as an hour a week. I just applied to volunteer one to five hours per week for eight weeks with an Ethiopian AIDS/HIV awareness organization to help prepare print materials to educate the local populace on HIV and AIDS prevention and care.

If you’d like to help out closer to home, there are endless opportunities, from working in soup kitchens and food pantries to volunteering at animal shelters, nursing homes or hospitals. Interested in promoting a healthy body image? Check out some of the organizations listed in this link or donate your time to the fledgling Coalition of Fat Rights Activists.

This new year, instead of resolving to change your body, commit instead to help change the world.

Topic of discussion: What are your New Year’s resolutions, if any? Have you ever successfully fulfilled any of your annual vows? Or, post your ideas on ways others can help impact real change this new year.