Some New Year's Non Resolutions

Flicker

Happy New Year!!

This year I don't resolve to:

lose weight
get organized
make more money
exercise more
write more
read more
or
spend more time with family and friends

Those resolutions never seem to last anyway...

I do vow to appreciate what I have today:  good health, time with family and friends, financial stability, time to do what I love most:  reading, writing, running, biking, walking my new doggie (more about her to come), and adequate space for everything I need. I may not have an overabundance of these things, but I have what I need right now.  Overly high expectations of myself and others invariably lead to a dead end.

I think, in this new year of 2012, we could all use a bit less self-transformation and a bit more self-appreciation. Let's turn down a notch our unending quests to try harder or be better versions of ourselves. Let's find more contentment with who we are right now and appreciate what we accomplish every day just by authentically being ourselves. Not ideal, airbrushed, romanticized versions of ourselves, but rather the real, imperfect, genuine and good enough ones.

The concept of not trying harder contradicts everything we read and see these days, but I truly believe we accomplish more when we positively focus on what we are versus what we could be. On what we're doing right versus doing wrong. Awareness of our present situation helps us recognize what's working good enough in our lives, and how certain unrealistic ideals can simply be let go. Often this simple, singular approach can work even better than setting numerous goals that not only are vague but also don't account for the way we are wired.

We all know that trying to make changes without articulating why, when and how we are going to do it brings us down more than it brings us results. But what's more, often times change is not what we really need anyway.  Perhaps it's more about shifting our focus to what we do best and seeing that we have most, if not all, the inner resources we need to be satisfied and content. We have windows of opportunity already: we just need to pay attention to them.

Very content horses from my homestate, Indiana.

So here's to focusing on what we're doing right in our lives as opposed to what we're doing wrong. I'll bet a million bucks that the good energy and self-acknowledgement coming from that exercise will bring some powerful results.

Cheers, 2012!


-Katie