The Resolutions and Challenges We Do Not Make
Why It’s Important To Consider Them
So, one topic on Medium with no associated articles is the Cinnamon Challenge. I find that shocking. How come no articles about the challenge to eat one whole spoonful of cinnamon in under one minute? No additional items or drinks are allowed to wash it down.
This is a challenge I will not attempt. Cinnamon is certainly an invaluable spice, rich in flavor and ripe with health benefits. I remember one simple amazing dish my parents would prepare for us growing up was white rice sprinkled with cinnamon. Also delicious was apple crisp rich in cinnamon. However, like other spices, I prefer cinnamon as an additional ingredient rather than its own dish.
As we now get ready to start yet another year, I find my dismissal of the Cinnamon Challenge to be quite different from the norm. We are so often rising to accept challenges in the form of New Year’s resolutions. Some of these challenges may be to do more of something in the new year(I certainly pledge to save more money for emergencies or long-term financial goals). Other challenges are to lessen or completely abstain from certain behaviors(like my goal not to spend as much time worrying about things that happened years ago). However, outright dismissing a challenge or resolution(whether in the short term or long term) is quite different.
Perhaps this is an interesting topic for each of us to consider in the New Year. What challenges or resolutions do we outright dismiss? What domains or activities would we just not even immerse ourselves in even if we were offered some grand prize? Besides eating a whole spoonful of cinnamon, other challenges I would not partake in include skydiving, wax fruit eating, flying an airplane, or bungee jumping.
Considering challenges and resolutions we would abstain from can yield profound insights. For one, it can reveal personality traits and truths about our deeper selves. If you find a past time like stamp collecting or cheese rolling to be so dull or mind-numbing that you would rather eat grass than involve yourself, does that imply you are more adventurous or reaction-based? If you cannot stand loud music with questionable lyrics, perhaps some of your ancestors were exemplary in the classical genres.
When we stop to think about it, we can realize that the vast majority of challenges, endeavors, or domains will always be beyond our grasp. Throughout our lives, we will barely begin to scratch away from the surface of anything(as is the same for humanity in general). Realizing this can help sharpen our sense of humility and wonder. Also, the deeper truth that we will never even begin to turn over the vast majority of stones can challenge us to turn over as many stones as we can. It is like when someone goes to one of the largest area libraries with hundreds of thousands or millions of resources. The hundreds and hundreds of shelves with thousands and thousands of books, periodicals, or other materials call the patron to explore and find as many works as they can, knowing very well there will always be more works to explore.
Pondering challenges or endeavors we will not partake in can propel us back to the challenges we do accept. How are these challenges in line with our authentic goals and selves? Are we going to invest fully in the new goals and endeavors we commit to, especially if they are New Year’s resolutions?
What New Year’s resolutions and challenges are you taking on this year? What challenges and endeavors are beyond your vantage point this year or in your lifetime ahead? It is possible that the Cinnamon challenge is on your list for 2025(if you haven’t tried it already). If that is the case for you, then all the power to you. While it’s beyond my vantage point, that is a stone you may be wanting to turn over.
