Resolutions: What, Why, and How

Our whole lives we’ve heard others make resolutions. Many of us have grown up to be the kind of people who make them. They are a deeply-rooted part of our experience in Western cultures.

Get fit, stop smoking, lose weight, swear less, eat better stop doing this or that – our lists of resolutions seem to never end. There is always something about ourselves that we’re pretty clear needs to be changed.

We’re professionals at judging ourselves, actually. The thing we do best is observing the vast gap between how we should be and how we in fact are.

Many resolutions center on how we treat ourselves. We judge what we eat and smoke and how much exercise we (don’t) get. Astrologically, I feel New Year’s resolutions fit with Saturn. The Sun is now in Capricorn as it is January 1st of any year, and Saturn rules this sign.

The last few years I’ve been inviting you to revisit your relationship with your inner Saturn. This is an archetype that exists within each of us and yet we tend to absorb others’ ideas and models of how to do it – and those models tend to be about judging what is in terms of what it is not, and criticizing instead of supporting. Check out Saturn Returns: Thinking Astrologically (use code PG9Y82E2 at checkout to get 20% off) for important and useful info on turning the inner judging voice into one of a loving authority figure or parent, something we all need.

If you’re someone inclined to make resolutions at this time of year, check the what, why, and how of your thought process. Don’t let a sense of inner pressure guide you. Choose to take back the power of your free will and actions from the inner judge and give it to a nurturing inner parent. Make changes in your life if you’re inclined to do so but do it because it’s important to treat yourself better, not because your life is a mess or because you do all these horrible things you shouldn’t do.

It’s so very easy to decide something needs to be changed because there’s something wrong with your choices, behaviors, or habits – or yourself. The inner judge is always on call to tell you what you’re doing wrong and when something seems to go wrong, that part of you jumps up to tell you there’s actually always been something wrong with you and this is proof of it.

Do it differently this year. Make a change because you want to be happier and healthier. Most of us feel deeply powerless about making changes, about changing our lives for the better but you can take this back at any time. Just after a new moon in Capricorn on the heels of the Winter Solstice, it’s a great time to do so.

Lastly, consider what you’ve been told and shown a resolution is. Extending the notion of changing the theme of Saturnian (i.e., hard-edged, rigid, burdensome, etc.) pressure, understand that when you make a choice based in a loving commitment to yourself so that you are healthier and happier, a resolution isn’t rigid. It isn’t a do-or-die thing. It isn’t a vow of abstinence or whatever other phrases we might toss in there. It is a movement in the direction of self-care and self-love.

When you move in that direction, you are less inclined to judge yourself for not being able to live up to unrealistic expectations that are riddled with the fear of self-judgment and the fear that you probably can’t measure up and follow through.

So be firm with yourself but for loving reasons – because you like being alive and having this human experience. And if you don’t, call me for a session and let’s get to the bottom of it.

Tom Jacobs is an Evolutionary Astrologer, Medium, and Channel offering 40% off intuitive/channeled astrology readings about your soul’s journey until the end of the year. Book yours by the end of 12/31 and schedule it for early January.