Meditation for 1/1/2014

Colleton River Plantation

“A desirable resolution is like an old horse – often saddled but rarely ridden.”  - Mexican Proverb

“Only when thought, resolve and action unify does lasting change becomes possible.”

     A resolution is defined as a firm decision to do or not do something.  The New Year is upon us, a time of year that many of us think of change and making these firm decisions.  There have been many studies about these New Year’s Resolutions, and psychiatrists and psychologists will almost all tell you they are an exercise in futility.  The vast majority of us make some grand sweeping goal, and within a day or week or month all we have to show for it is more shame that we must bury.  We would have been better off without making the goal to start with.   Fantasizing about success, relying on our own willpower, suppressing cravings, focusing on the negatives, making spur of the moment goals and adopting role models are just a few strategies that study after study show do not work for long.   We can make firm decisions all day long, but the only things that mean anything require consistent action.  So, what does work?

     Realistic goals are necessary, and realizing that obtaining any major goal requires successful completion of smaller goals helps us break things down to a manageable level.  We need to make a basic day to day life-style change.  We need to draw up a plan, clearly write it out and stick to it.  We need to make ourselves accountable to others that know we are pursuing the goal and are like-minded.  Keeping a journal gives tangible proof of our progress in those times we want to give up.  Instead of going on a diet we need to alter our eating and exercise habits.  We need positive reinforcement for our success rather than beating ourselves up when we fall back a bit.  We need to adopt the mindset that what we are doing right now is what we are doing with our life.  Our “life” is not something that is going to happen at some obscure point in the future – our life is right now.  The bigger the change, the smaller the increments we need to allow ourselves to adjust – a ship does not reverse course on the spot, but small adjustments one after another have the ship going in the opposite direction before we realize it is done.   But most of all let’s be gentle with ourselves.  After all, we are all we have.

Today, may I be persistent.  D.Emch

Happy New Year everyone !!!  

Warmest

David