High hopes for 2023

It’s that time of year again, folks. New Year’s resolutions.They say that rules are made to be broken, just like those promises we seem to make to ourselves every year, having indulged a little too much over the festive period.

All week, I’ve been making the same old promises to myself: I’ll lose a bit of weight, cut down on the takeaways, and start exercising more… but will I?

Only time will tell.

Statistics show that 58 per-cent of the UK population will make a New Year’s resolution in 2023. This equates to a whopping 30 million people. Apparently, the top five resolutions made in the UK in 2022 included quitting drinking, doing more exercise, giving up smoking, losing weight, and improving the diet.

While the New Year may serve as an ambitious incentive to knock our worst habits on the head, we often find ourselves back to square one the following December, making those same old promises to ourselves, and often asking ourselves, “Why bother?”

They say, in order to stick to our resolutions, we must choose a specific goal, limit our resolutions, start with small steps, and remember that change is a process.

Amidst my own internal struggle – that is, the empty promises I make to myself every year – I took to the streets of Omagh to ask the public what they plan to give up, take up, or promise themselves for 2023.

It seems that after a turbulent couple of years of Covid-19, the ‘cost-of-living’ crisis and a dormant Stormont, the general public aren’t too concerned about making the same old New Year promises to themselves.

Many of those approached politely declined the opportunity to discuss their resolutions, some actively stating that they had no interest in making any change.

I can’t help but wonder if this is a good thing, or a bad thing? Have people given up hope on the old ‘new year, new me’ tradition? Or, are they simply content with what they have, and how they are doing after a rather tough few years?A little glimmer of hope that I experienced on this cold and wet Friday morning, was courtesy of the children in the town.

With their whole lives ahead of them, Omagh is flourishing with ambitious youth who have high hopes for 2023.

Here are some wonderful wishes for the year ahead from the future stars of our community.

“I hope to start school in Loreto Grammar this year.”

“I hope to get better at football this year.”

“I hope that my family will have a happy year.”

“I hope to get a dog in 2023.”

“I want homeless people to have a place to live and not be out in the cold.”