Making Resolutions, One Year Later

Christmas Day hike in Jack London State Park.
Near Sonoma, in Glen Ellen, California.
Photo: (finally) Me. With help from my son,
and a new digital camera,
we finally got one of our own pictures on.

MAKING RESOLUTIONS:
This is fun.

Last year, on this date, I decided to write once a day in my blogsite. And I was interested in being
present
while doing an essay a day: An Invitation to Adventure, Dec. 27, 2005.

I didn’t succeed, every day, and I wasn't always present with every essay,
but I did succeed many.

And then another blog was spawned.

And then another.

So between the three, I’ve pretty much written 365 essays or poems or simple ( like this) postings.


So , what is this all about?


Well, it’s deciding to do something, rather than to restrain from something.

And it’s deciding to do something that can be done in small chunks, and these small chunks can be enjoyable.

And it’s about not rushing, which is the weird thing, this feeling as if we have to cram everything, way too much, so much stuff, busy, busy, into our lives that we don’t have time for what is important.

A resolution to take a walk every morning before breakfast: that’s the kind of thing that can make life really wonderful.

A resolution to sit down with your guitar for ten to twenty minutes a day, or more: that again, is a commitment to spending your life in ways that you really want to be.

Human being, not human doing, that’s the key. Resolutions are almost always things we do, but how can we make them things we do that have that sweet and wonderful quality of being, of being present, of being present to the glorious miracle of being alive in this moment.

That’s the good way to use resolutions.

Not: “I’m going to exercise more.” Nah. I’m going to do 15 minutes of yoga and take a walk every day, and if I want to do more, I will.

Make your resolution something you don’t have to drive to, something you don’t have to spend money on, something that can be as simple as thinking of five things every morning that make you smile, or sending out wishes to five people you love every day at sundown.

Make it simple.

Or let it be a little complicated, if that is building from last year’s resolution. Make the steps small and fun and do-able. Do able in the be able mode.

To do in a way that helps us be, be alive to the moment. This seems the right way to frame resolutions. What do you think?



(Note. The essays are rotating through the three blogs, more or less one per day.
So you might want to check:
WakeUp Feldenkrais®
and
Tai Chi Yoga Health Weight Loss Joy

for the last two essays.)