If you're still in the market for a new year's resolution, this is a pretty damn good one.
As 2010 drew to a close I was overwhelmed with the realization that I could spend the entirety of 2011 counting the blessings I was graced with in the past year alone. After asking myself, "What did I do to deserve all this?" and struggling to come up with a valid answer (despite the fact that it was meant to be a rhetorical question), I posed this not-so-rhetorical challenge: "What am I going to do to deserve all this?"
I immediately set about listing all the good deeds and positive actions that I intend to undertake in the coming months and by 12:05am on January 1st, the clean slate I was granted at midnight was already impossibly full. Best of intentions notwithstanding, I can confidently forecast without a shadow of a doubt that, as in each year prior to the one that lies ahead, I will fall woefully short of my overly ambitious aspirations. But that certainly won't stop me from trying. Each day, each moment, is a new opportunity.
So this year, rather than scrapping my resolutions when they prove to be more difficult than they sounded whilst under the spell of sky lanterns, fire twirlers and far too much Prosecco, I will merely park them on a shelf for a while and focus on living up to this simple yet powerful statement:
"Do not let this universe regret you."
I was going to offer my version of what this mantra means to me, but I decided that my personal take on it is relatively unimportant to anyone but me. So I will leave it here now and let it stand on its own, to be interpreted by anyone who stumbles across this in whatever way speaks most authentically to you. If you care to share your thoughts on it, please do.
Happy New Year Everyone!
Haunting. Makes me feel guilty that I have not done my part to be deserving of the blessings that I do have in my life. When looking at the "big picture", we all should be a little kinder to the larger world around us. I almost feel selfish just considering and being thankful for MY own blessings (that could also be the fact of an up-bringing of being catholic and co-dependent, ha-ha...not functional unless I am feeling guilty about something :-)) But, I do think our innate drive to do things in our life that are fulfilling and effective in some way does spark the ambition flame to spread that as far as we can. This includes being kind to our own. In this case, "own" can take on as big a meaning you want. Our own loved ones, our own co-workers, our own immediate life, our own environment, our own world, and yes, our own universe. I don't want the universe to look at our world like we are the "bad apple", heh, heh!
ReplyDeleteSo, what can we/I do? Stop being haunted by this picture and change the focus. Consider it a challenge. In any small way, commit to something that helps make our world a better place: donate to "green" charity, recycle, volunteer, don't litter, conserve energy, educate oneself on making this world livable and acceptable, or just buy those energy-saving light bulbs! So, whatever your mind, money, capabilities, influence or drive take you, no resolution list is too big or too small....just don't be overwhelming to yourself, I think that's what got us here in the first place. Our poor little world has taken on a lot of our crap already. To sum it up, as I have heard others proclaim on 1-1-11, it's time to "clean house"...it's up to you to decide what that means and how far you can go with it. :-)
Wow. Haunting was a good word...almost a warning, the way it is phrased. I like the idea of turning it around, as Alicia suggested, and I love your comment "What am I GOING to do to deserve all this?" For some of us, I think, taking on a whole year can be overwhelming. I'm finding that, for me, anyway, "What am I going to do TODAY?" results in more action than "...this year"... When I focus on each day, it's much easier, and more in the front of my mind, to find an opportunity to help, to give, to touch this world in a positive way. Sometimes it's a big thing. Adopting a family for the holidays and somehow making sure they get what they need. Sometimes it's just a smile to someone who looks like they need it. Often it's making the most of those teachable moments to model for my kids how to be kind and gentle to the people with whom we share this planet. Holding a door. Saying please and thank you. Recognizing a need somewhere and filling it. Doing what we can to care for the earth that cares for us. My favorite? Telling someone else, even a complete stranger perhaps, how something they did or said made a positive impact. It's said that we all have a need to feel appreciated. I think it goes deeper than that....I think, once in a while, we all need to be told we're amazing :-) I don't think people say it enough, genuinely and with sincerity. So when I see an opportunity to tell someone else that, I jump on it, even if I don't know them. Making someone's day makes me feel that the universe won't regret me. And that feels pretty darn good.
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