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by Melea Johnson
For Goodness SakeI will..... live by new rules. Be open to new possibilities. Make dinner a nightly event. Jump in a pool with my clothes on. Miss my flight home, several times. Acquire a new couch. Enjoy life every day.
It happens. Every year. Come December I have noted every single thing I will do to make life perfect. I welcome the New Year with the belief all things noted can be met in a month. Then, the end of January comes. Life is the same. Old rules still apply. New possibilities seem so far out of reach. No flights to miss. No new couch. I have not taken time to eat dinner since October and the enjoyment of life is dampened by the fact I have not even made it to the pool more than 3 times in 30 days.
I have come to recognize most people do the same thing I do. New Year's Resolutions are in reality a to-do list for the whole year or a lifetime. We forget that part. We want to shed the past and move forward towards a better future, and we want it now.
But, change takes effort. And time. Positive change takes the most time because our minds are equipped with layer after layer of defense mechanisms designed to shoot down anything that might keep things from staying exactly where they are.
We get impatient and forget in cultivating anything new, it's not about getting it right the first time, but rather correcting mistakes in the iteration. If we're in a battle with our self every time we slip up, we'll just feel negative, unmotivated and frankly, we're wasting precious time.
So, I suggest we be gentle. It's only (almost) February. We still have the rest of the year to accomplish what we wish for in 2019. Let's start small. Start so small that we can not fail. And build from there. Let's cultivate a positive feedback loop that will motivate us to keep going. Every step forward counts.
Let's not forget to linger in the in-between spaces before moving on to the next goal. Those spaces provide their own insights into gratitude and reward. Gives strength in preparation for the next step. It's all a process. If we fall in love with the process, the results will come.