Happy New Year, everyone!
There was a time when I made the standard resolution on the first of every January. I was younger then, and while I wouldn’t necessarily describe myself as more foolish, I was certainly less wise than I am now. Resolutions (other than being something that everyone made) seemed so easy to make. Lose 10 pounds? Run 5 km a day? Write 1000 words a day? How hard could it be?
Well, it took me a while to figure it out, but sticking to a concrete resolution can be very hard, actually. Because the truth is, life doesn’t really care what you’ve resolved to do/not do. Life is arbitrary, contrary, and sometimes just plain scary in how it unfolds; and a lot — okay, most — of what happens isn’t within our control. Illness, job issues, family crises…all those and so much more can interfere with our best intentions and throw our resolutions completely off track.
What is in our control, however, is how we respond to life’s unfoldings. After repeatedly failing to live up to my own expectations, I’ve learned to respond by allowing myself flexibility, which means that I no longer resolve to stick to any particular agenda — especially not one that contains a number! 😉
Instead, I resolve (and not just on January 1st, but repeatedly throughout the year):
To live mindfully.
To plan for the future but live in the moment I have now.
To strive to be a good person, to lead by example, and to be as kind to myself as I am to others.
To make the time to be grateful for all that I have.
To dream and to follow through on those dreams.
To do what I can with what I have for as long as I have it.
To simply live well.
What about you? Have you made a resolution this year?
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