HC residents set their 2019 New Year’s resolutions

Henry County residents are determined to achieve both their lofty and attainable New Year's resolutions for 2019.

From big goals like wanting to get pregnant to less specific goals like having more adventures, the new year is a time for everyone to reflect on how they want their life to look differently.

Raul Becerril, a personal trainer at The REC Center, is looking forward to helping others achieve their 2019 fitness resolutions.

While everyone can be motivated toward their resolutions, Becerril said the next step is commitment even when the motivation wears off - both with fitness and with any other set goal.

'Dig a little deeper,” Becerril said. 'You're going to have days where you will want to stay in, stay warm and not go to the gym. It's whether you're committed to yourself and what you say you're going to do.”

Becerril has fitness goals for himself in the new year, but his resolution is to be a great husband. Becerril and his wife just celebrated their one-year anniversary.

'One year is a big deal because I see all the work it takes,” Becerril said. 'But I can't wait for 30 years, 50 years down the road. That's what excites me.”

Triston Surratt, a freshman at Mt. Pleasant Community High School, said his resolution is to work hard in school and stay in school.

Surratt said a lot of his family members either dropped out of high school or didn't continue their education beyond high school.

'I want to get a better job and have a better life,” Surratt said.

Surratt plans to study hard, prepare for tests and take classes he needs for graduation even though he may not want to take them.

Steven Francis said he doesn't set resolutions because it makes him feel worse if he doesn't accomplish it. Instead, he focuses on setting goals.

Francis' next goal is to quit smoking, which he plans on doing by smoking fewer cigarettes a day and not bringing a pack home after work.

Roy Manfredi sets goals instead of resolutions as well.

'I usually don't set resolutions because I don't feel like putting a deadline on something,” Manfredi said. 'If I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it. I'm not going to wait (for a new year).”

Manfredi's 2019 goal is to win the Wings in the Spring Main Street competition. Manfredi was runner-up for the 2018 competition.

Morgan Manley's resolution is to volunteer more in 2019.

Manley enjoys volunteering at the Quarter Maybe More store and the animal shelter in Burlington but was too busy with work in 2018 to really make time.

Kayleigh Septer said in 2019, she is going to go on more adventures.

'Just visit more places, do more things, just be brave,” Septer said. 'I definitely think this (resolution) is attainable.”

Linda Eastup is continuing her 2018 resolution to follow God more closely every day and listen to his leading.

Eastup moved to Mt. Pleasant from Alabama three years ago to be closer to her son, daughter-in-law and their two children.

She started working at the Quarter Maybe More store in Mt. Pleasant and it changed her life. Although she grew up in church and raised her children to go to church, Eastup said she only truly felt she knew God in the past two years.

Eastup said she has made traditional New Year's resolutions in the past like losing weight or making more money, but it always falls by the wayside.

'I've never been able to keep those resolutions too well. I never follow through,” Eastup said.

When Eastup resolved in 2018 to grow closer to God, it stuck.

Eastup keeps her resolution 'by reading and studying Scripture, listening to Christian music and talking to people who love the Lord,” which she does frequently at the Quarter Maybe More store, she said.

'This is the second year of this resolution. I kept it last year and it's a good one,” Eastup said.