New Year's Re-Solutions
New Year's Resolutions... perhaps like myself, you've been thinking about this topic as of late.
In one way, it seems like a great opportunity for a fresh start, like when we were school aged and September brought us fresh notebooks and the opportunity for a clean slate, a new class, a new teacher. On the other hand, it can be a set up for disaster, setting ourselves up for failure because our resolutions are unrealistic or will only be short lived, making us feel worse than we did prior to the resolution.
This is when I like to say, "Ok, well how else can we look at this? Is there a way to get the benefits of the New Year's resolution and avoid the pitfalls?"
Resolution. Solution. Re - the prefix to do again. Hmmm.... so perhaps we can look at this as a time to analyze. What was helpful to me in the past year? What was unhelpful? What small changes can be made that make sense for my life currently? Seems like a good idea to identify where the imbalance lies prior to coming up with a solution to how we can approach going towards a greater sense of balance. But as was discussed in an earlier post, nothing is permanent - not us, not anything. So it might make more sense to view our resolutions as living, breathing, malleable goals; ones we check in on after a week, two weeks, a month. Is it working? Do I need to tweak it this way or that?
For example, starting January 1st I am going to meditate everyday for one hour for the rest of my life. Mmmmm, probably setting myself up for failure. A better resolution might be that I am going to meditate 10 minutes a day, at 8:00am, three times a week and re-evaluate my resolution at the end of the week to see if this is working for me or if I notice any obstacles and need to make any changes.
It may also be helpful to choose one resolution at a time. Make a list and prioritize. More exercise, less junk food, meditate, more socializing, etc. Pick one and go from there. Sometimes choosing and focusing on just one area, positively effects other areas of our life quite naturally.
We are already good enough AND we all have areas where we can improve to help us feel more balanced. We just keep working with it - or playing with it. Heck, why not make it fun if we can!?
Happy New Year everyone.