KILGORE, Texas — According to a 2021 study, about two-thirds of people abandon their New Year’s resolutions within a month. The study also found most resolutions involve either diet or exercise and people tend to make the same resolutions year after year.
For others, resolutions at the start of a new year are something more meaningful, said Maliakaia Bunbury, East Texas community health worker for the Children’s Defense Fund of East Texas. In her profession, Bunbury dedicates herself to helping people of her community. This upcoming year, she’s setting a goal to help herself.
“I started smoking when I was about 19,” she said.
What began as a social thing eventually grew into a habit. Two children later, Bunbury considered quitting smoking but failed multiple times. After her last pregnancy and health complications that were revealed, Bunbury knows it’s now necessary for her health to completely quit.
“Normally after I smoke I just feel sluggish. I just feel down, I don’t want to do anything,” she said.
Her motivation and how she’s holding herself accountable? Her children.
“I would never be able to forgive myself if something happened to them and their health due to my negligence,” Bunbury said.
Read more from our newspaper partners, the Kilgore News-Herald.
