It's that time of year again. A new leaf turning, and with it comes vows of self-improvement: less of this (eating junk food, drinking), more of that (exercise)...
But this time last year a 24-year-old DJ from Winnipeg had a unique spin on resolutions. He publicly announced his plan to give up sex. For a whole year.
Incredibly, what seemed like a publicity stunt for Marcel 'No Sex' Williams, from the hip-hop station 104.7 Streetz FM, turned into a lesson in self-respect.
Williams, whose blog about his experiment included a countdown timer, thought he would crack at the first temptation. Fortunately for Williams the clock stops ticking on New Year's Day. As of this week, the site has had nearly 630,000 hits.
For those of us who can hardly resist chocolate for a full month, let alone a year, Williams has the following advice:
"Stick to a resolution, if not for yourself, maybe for the world you raise a child in," he says, concluding his blog. "You may not influence a vast population, but if you can help one person, whether it be yourself or someone else, it'll have all been worth it."
This begs the question: did his abstinence 'help' women across Canada?
I was under the impression that resolutions were all about giving up something in order to improve yourself or your quality of life, not simply depriving yourself of something you love. That's called Lent. I think Williams might have got the occasion confused.
Either way, sex is hardly something we need to sacrifice. If anything, we Canucks (31 per cent of whom claim to have a virtually nonexistent sex life) should resolve to get those endorphins dancing and have more sex, since it is hugely beneficial to our physical and emotional wellbeing.
Are resolutions worthwhile or doomed to failure? Have you ever made any changes that actually stuck? How did you do it?
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