Friday, January 13, 2012

New Year's Resolutions?

It's been a while since I've posted anything. Guess I've been caught up in a bit of a "dry spell". Oh well, that happens on occasion!

This year I made no new year's resolutions. And so far, I've kept all of them! In the past, I continued to come up with a half dozen or so things that I wanted to improve upon in the upcoming year. So, I'd make these sweeping proclamations on New Year's Eve of all that I was going to do "right" in the new year. Then I'd spend three or four days white-knuckling it through, determined to keep my word and turn my life around before giving up. That always left me angry and frustrated with myself and waiting for new years to come around again so I could start over. Well, not anymore.

I still have things that I'd like to improve upon. Like maybe not cussing out the old lady who cuts me off in traffic or the bus driver who doesn't smile and say "hello" back to me when I board the bus. Like eating two Oreos instead of four. But rather than making these sort of changes all-or-nothing absolutes, I'm looking at them as small stepping stones to living what I hope will be a more contented life. I have decided that my goal will be to try to make each new day a little better than the day before, even if in only a small way. Sometimes all I can muster is a change in my attitude, looking for the positive in a situation rather than focusing on what it is that I don't like about it. So far, that seems to be working much better for me and I don't find myself kicking "me" in the butt at the end of the day. Everything else is gravy! No promises I can't keep. No promises I don't want to keep. No promises I make only to please others. Just asking God to guide my decisions and to help me do my part every day of the year, not just the first three days!