Submitted photo
Sometimes, sitting back and drinking out of the right mug is all you need to know – ‘Life is Good.’

Every January, millions of Americans greet the new year with the same wide-eyed optimism usually reserved for lottery winners and first-time gym members. Resolutions are made boldly, confidently and — if we’re being honest — sometimes with the same shelf life as a carton of milk.

Which brings us to Friday, Jan. 9, unofficially known as “Quitter’s Day,” the date when most New Year’s resolutions reportedly wave the white flag. It’s a moment of collective surrender, a national shrug, and for many, a gentle reminder that self-improvement is hard, especially when the couch is soft.

But not everyone enters the new year with a laminated list of goals. Some, like Eric Ettinger of Lewistown, simply opt out. “I did not make one this year!” he said. “I have too much to learn with my new job.” Ettinger retired from the Mifflin County Regional Police Department after 20 years of service after being elected as a magisterial district court judge.

It’s a refreshingly honest approach: why set yourself up for failure when you can simply refuse to participate?

Others take a more philosophical route. Suzi Love Bender of Lewistown, for example, didn’t bother with resolutions at all. “I slid into the new year not with specific resolutions but vowed myself to make better daily intentions,” she said on Sunday night. “I have definitely kept up with that so far through day 4. Only 360 to go!”

Daily intentions might be the loophole we’ve all been searching for — less pressure, more flexibility and no gym membership required.

Of course, some residents are still fighting the good fight. Brad Strawser, of Mifflintown, is among the disciplined few. “So far so good!” he said. “Being more disciplined with my daily schedule and tasks. Adding more routine to my day to day.”

Routine, experts say, is the backbone of habit formation. Whether that routine survives past Quitter’s Day is another matter entirely.

Then there are the realists — those who know themselves well enough not to pretend. “Stacey Falkner, of Belleville, said. “I didn’t make one, so there’s that … sorry.” No guilt, no pressure, no problem.

And somewhere in the middle sits Cheryl Gearhart Swineford, of Lewistown, who’s aiming for something both admirable and familiar: “Resolution is to get back to the gym at least three days a week,” she said. “Starts this week.”

It’s a classic resolution, one that spikes gym attendance every January before tapering off by mid-month. Whether Swineford becomes a Quitter’s Day statistic remains to be seen, but she’s off to a determined start.

If there’s a theme emerging, it’s that resolutions — like snowstorms and tax season — arrive every year whether we’re ready or not. Some people embrace them. Some dodge them. Some reinvent them entirely. And some, like the friend who declared Jan. 9 as the official day of surrender, simply acknowledge the inevitable with a laugh.

Jan. 9 is Quitter’s Day for breaking New Year’s resolutions, as if we’re announcing a holiday that needs no decorations.

But maybe the real story isn’t about quitting at all. Maybe it’s about the quiet, stubborn hope that keeps us making resolutions in the first place. Even if we break them. Even if we forget them. Even if we never make them at all.

Because beneath the jokes and the self-deprecating confessions is a simple truth: everyone wants to be a little better than they were last year. And whether that journey lasts 365 days or just nine, it still counts for something.

So here’s to the resolvers, the non-resolvers, the daily-intention-setters, and the unapologetic quitters. The calendar might say Quitter’s Day is Jan. 9, but the year is long, hope is stubborn, and there’s always tomorrow — unless, of course, your resolution was to stop procrastinating.