New Year’s Resolutions… stink!

Each year I call them my New Year’s “Revolutions” because in my head and heart I am going to change things MAJOR in life.  I usually vow to: live a healthier life in food choices, exercise even more than I already do, and be kinder, more generous, and volunteer even more to help others.  By the second week, well that’s coming up, I am exhausted and wonder if I’ve taken on too much.  Then I get angry at myself and jump right back on board the next morning.

This morning, after a long night of sleeplessness over what I still needed to do, this new year and what I hadn’t done already in my life, it dawned on me.  Eureka!  It was not about accomplishments and failures, but rather about the journey in trying to do  them.  Success or failure.  But, we all know that already, right?  Then why do I forget it so frequently?

It seems as if we get into an area of comfort and sometimes discomfort in our individual lives where we feel the need to be new, improved, and better ourselves… over and over and over.  I personally can’t remember a time in life where  I believed in my soul that everything was “perfect” in my life.  As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gained the insight that none of us have a “perfect” life.

There have always been challenges in health/ illness/death with ourselves and family and personal goals/failures in our individual lives in work, relationships that just are not what we want them to be.  There always will be this Drama as we’ve come to label it   However, it is merely our life as given.

So,  I am adding a new, and hopefully my best revolution, for this year of 2015… just ease up on everything and I mean everything.  It’s going to be difficult for me, but it’s the best “revolution” I’ve made in a long time.

Wow, I feel better already… LOL.

Doing Unto Others… in the Most Positive Way!

It is often difficult to think about talking or writing to others in a purely “self-less” context. We often have our own agenda when we interact with someone on the phone, by writing, or even in person. Questions of our own interest and intent often get in the way of a more honest and realistic interaction. It is easy to forget that when we deal with someone, one-on-one, we might be doing so not only for ourselves, but for someone else as well. Often we are not only a necessary link in communication with that person, but the only link. If this is the case, we need to be a strong connection, not a weak one.

Also, make a point of “telling” someone something…only if they will feel better from the new information being offered to them. Do not tell someone a bit of information to make yourself feel better! That’s the opposite of “self-less.” You might feel “unburdened” but it is only because you have now loaded them down with the negativity and hurt. Today, ask someone something personal about themselves; this will make them feel as if they are more than a colleague, neighbor, or even a taken for granted relative. It will make them realize that they matter… to you… in more than their “designated” role.

It’s just a wonderful practice to really follow the Biblical wisdom of: Treat/speak to people as you would want others to speak/treat you. If we don’t like something done/said in our own lives; it’s our choice to make the effort to change …or not. We are never defined by others negative actions or words; we are what we choose for ourselves. I like that choice.