Happy New Year Everyone.

It’s that time of the year when I often hear my friends and family members making new year’s resolutions about how they are going to change this year. Somebody asked me what resolutions I made this year — the answer was none, I’m always trying to change, dammit!

The new year marks rebirth and new beginnings. Psychologically the start of the year seems to initiate thoughts of change. We reminisce over the year that has passed and our thoughts wander to what we could have done better. The “if only” statements flood in and the desire to make resolutions is born out of the hope that we can make positive, permanent changes in our lives.

There is a thing about resolutions I have discovered though: we often set unrealistic goals for ourselves and generally feel we have failed not long after we’ve made them. I’m always going to go to the gym every second day, eat only organic food, write a blockbuster book or make a feature film — inevitably I don’t, and feel I have failed yet again, something which is not actually true.

In reference to change, the concepts of success and failure seem flawed to me. They have ‘ends’ and because change never stops, how can there be an end.  We also don’t often see all the positive steps we have made along the way. I might not have made a feature film, but I have written
a short film script with my partner, so I was actually successful in that I have made steps to achieving something I have set myself.

The fact is change is constant and I think the key is staying positive and making small steps, one followed by another and another and another. We can’t change our innate personalities or our flaws simply because it’s a new year. The good new is, it does not have to be a new year to start on a new path. That’s why I didn’t feel I needed to make a new year’s resolution just because it was the first of January. I can work on changing something in my life at any breath.

That said, in the spirit of the new year and new beginnings, we have some wonderfully insightful articles this month. Local yoga and natural therapist guru, Gregory Barnes, writes about how you can change your life and gives us a small insight into a new way of living. Our body shape article, ‘2010 Could Mean a Whole New You’ gives you some SMART tips on sticking to that exercise program this year. We talk about reconsidering our political positions and look at 2009, the year that was; plus much more. A great line up for the start of the new year, thanks to all our talented and dedicated contributors.

I hope everyone has a “successful” new year, whether it’s at work,  at play or with love.

Enjoy, Alex

A Note from Yasmin Element FUSE Associate Editor

Happy New Year Everone. My thoughts on the new year and change. I think change happens whether we like it or not and rarely goes to plan. I didn’t fulfill my new year’s resolution in ‘09 but I did some amazing things I hadn’t planned. I hope 2010 is filled with fabulous surprises and changes for you all.

Love Yasmin.