by Karyn B Jules

Created on: May 10, 2009   Last Updated: May 20, 2009

The recession's solutions to failed resolutions, or, How to keep a sense of humor and survive the recession.

Are you one of those people who never quite succeed in following through on their new year's resolutions? Do you have a growing pile of carefully thought out lists stashed away in a drawer, waiting for yet another new year to determine their ultimate success or failure? Well there is a solution, and it can be found in the recession. Yes that's right, the recession guarantees you success in sticking with your resolutions, and the best part is you don't even have to put in any effort, the recession will do all the hard work for you.

Take that old perennial resolution to go on a diet and lose those extra pounds for instance. Everything goes well for the first few days. You've filled the fridge and cupboards with fruit, vegetables and healthy foods, and you're feeling extremely enthusiastic about the whole diet thing. Then a friend invites you out for lunch at that lovely little cafe down the street. Of course you can't resist the opportunity to catch up, and you now have all the willpower you need to resist their delectable chocolate cheesecake, right? Wrong! You couldn't even resist the triple super deluxe mocha shake with an extra dollop of heavenly whipped cream. Oh dear!

Now let's look at the same scenario in the midst of a recession. You arrive at the caf, take a seat and pick up the menu. All you can afford is a glass of juice and a slice of buttered bread. You look at your friend, who is madly searching her handbag for loose change, and suggest she comes back to your place for a healthy wholemeal sandwich and as much freshly squeezed juice as she can drink. How easy is that? Top marks for the recession.

So, you are now on track with your diet and the next resolution on your list is to get fit. The only form of exercise you've managed to stick with for any length of time is wrestling your partner for the remote control. Bring on the recession, and suddenly the temptation to drive when you know you should walk to the local store magically disappears. You either walk or risk running out of gas on the way to work next Friday. The budget only allows for so much gas per week, and losing your job to avoid a fifteen minute walk each day is not an option. The recession is beginning to look pretty good, wouldn't you agree?

Then there's the resolution that you want to succeed in most of all; spending more quality time with your family. This is where the recession really becomes your best friend. Having to cut back on expensive, time consuming luxuries such as weekly visits to the nail technician or long Saturday afternoons at the pub with the boys allows you to spend all your new found spare time right where you really want to be; at home. Thanks to the recession, your family has no choice but to engage in entertaining cost free activities together. These could even include more exercise, in the form of a friendly game of whatever sport you all enjoy most, besides wrestling for the remote control.

Don't wait for the new year to start working on your resolution list. The recession is here, and when it comes to resolution solutions, it wins hands down every time.

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