38 HAPPY NEW YEAR - New Years Resolutions

BLESSINGS ALL, IN TRIBUTE TO THE YEARLY RITUAL OF RESOLUTIONS  – A REPOST THAT’S FITTING. I WISH YOU ALL LOVE, PEACE, SUCCESS & JOY

This is the time when most people make resolutions – promises that are for the most part external, at least those are the ones we are bombarded with. The resolutions range from dedicating oneself to a eating better food i.e. a healthier lifestyle, daily exercise, the pursuit of dreams deferred to what seem to be the global number one on everyone's list weight-loss. The list of diets are endless, there is the 100-Mile Diet, Alkaline diet, Atkins diet, Blood Type Diet, Breatharian diet, Buddhist diet, Cabbage Soup Diet, Cookie diet, Detox diet, Diabetic diet, Dr. Hay diet, Earth Diet, Feingold diet, Grapefruit diet, Herbalife diet, Hallelujah diet, Jenny Craig diet, Nutrisystems Diet, Raw food diet, Low fat/low sodium diet, Liquid diet, South Beach diet, Shangri-La Diet, Subway diet, Weight Watchers diet to the Zone diet and I am sure there is at least a hundred more other diets I haven’t even heard about. Heck the weight-loss companies are gearing up their campaigns to entice, seduce and lure us into choosing their programs. If you listen carefully you can almost here the chi-ching money sound of their cash registers locking in the money.

While I don’t see anything wrong with cultivating a healthy lifestyle, exercising, learning about and implementing proper nutrition (in fact I support it), lets not lose ourselves and our value in the parade of messages in the race to be thin. Seldom does one hear of resolutions encouraging mindfulness which envelopes such things as responsibility, accountability, consideration and kindness that requires one to work on the mind/body/spirit connection as well as our connections to others and how we impact and inform their lives when we interact. It will only benefit us all if are cognoscente of the fact that while we are indeed important we are not the only ones in the world. It doesn’t take much of an effort. Actually it is as simplistic as….

• Taking the time to think before you speak and consider the intent of your words
• Counting to ten before expressing your opinion(s) understanding clearly what you want to convey
• Considering the consequences to your actions and reactions to people, particular situations and under certain circumstances
• Asking questions to ensure clarity and understanding before responding
• Holding yourself accountable when you become judgmental
• Understanding that at any given time life can change on a dime and your situation can become untenable and you may need a hand out or a hand up
• Taking responsibility for poor judgments
• Forgiving yourself your mistakes and learning from the teachable moments
• Saying “I don’t know” when you don’t know and not pandering to the ego that insist you pretend otherwise
• Refusing to be participate in gossip, if you cannot say it face to face with the source of your discontent then don't say it at all
• Be willing to be wrong and understanding that being wrong is not a bad thing. It is simply a lesson to learn from.
• Seeing people for who they are and not whom you would want them to be
• Accepting people as they are or be willing to walk away and let them be if you cannot
• Asking for help when you need it for there isn't one person in the world who hasn't needed someone's help or wouldn't need it again in the future
• Giving help where you can when you can
• Giving value to all you have to share and understanding that even your time is precious
• and loving yourself unconditionally

Those are my resolutions for this year along with a few goals I am creating for myself. I am working on mind, body, soul and spirit along with documenting in a diary of daily lessons learnt. I plan to keep track daily, therein lies the challenge.