2016 Resolution Epiphany

On the Feast of Epiphany, I had an epiphany. I do want to write down my resolutions this year. I thought I wasn't making any resolutions -- not sure why I thought that -- but I realized on Epiphany that I already had made them. Acknowledging them made good sense.

I like the six-word resolutions I've made for many years. It's a concise form that works for me. This year, I took the "burning issues" in my life and made resolutions around them. But first . . . . a story.

In 2005, I made a set resolutions as I usually do. I recently ran across them reiterated in an entry from December of that year. They were simple and relationship based. I don't remember all of them but here are the basics:

• Play games with the girls (then 7 & 9)
• Spend more time with family (his, mine and ours)
• Right some wrongs
• Sew more 
• Be more spontaneous. Enjoy my life. 

Per the note in my journal, I was trying to see what I had left untended or unfulfilled. By December, I'd completed a lot of them. One thing stood glaringly unfinished: I had not made amends for breaking the heart of a sister-friend. I hadn't done it on purpose; it was more a slow building of a wall between us, brick by brick. I resolved to correct this.

I got a big old plate of grace when a few days after making the note in my journal, that very dear one called me and asked me to attend a conference with her. I did so and within a few hours of arriving there, I sought her out to make amends. Being the large-hearted person she was, she forgave me and we spent those several days mending our relationship.

In 2006, I spent tons of time with her; we were working closely together professionally but more, we were sisters and super-friends again. We spoke on the phone every day; we saw each other once or twice a week. In April we made a spontaneous decision to go to a meeting that evening in Houston. On the drive down and back, sans the distraction of both of our kids, she told me stories I'd never heard about her life. I relished every moment of that day and sent silent prayers of gratitude that I'd kept that resolution and brought her fully back into my life.

A few weeks later, she was dead. Even though it took me 11 months to keep that resolution the year before, making  the resolution was what eventually spurred me to do the hard thing and tear down that wall. Thank God I did.

So there you have it. Most year's resolutions are not so prescient. Nonetheless, I have never been sorry for making -- and attempting to keep -- my New Year's resolutions. 

Without further ado, here is my streamlined plan for 2016: 

Exercise 3 days, track steps, food

Daily quiet, reading, writing, and knitting

Sort and cull; clear the clutter

Love my 6 most beloved more

To support these actions, I've SMART planned them. I'm happy to have accomplished this, though a few days later than typically. 

What are you/have you resolved to do this year?

PS - I write about resolutions most years and often more than once!. Here are several of those posts:

New Resolutions:

2015: More is More, Less is More and More is Better!
2014: Six Word Resolutions to Write on the Clean Slate
2013: Resolutionary Manifesto
2012: A Single Resolution
2011: New Year's Revolution
2010: Resolution Revolution
2009: God on Speed Dial

Taking Stock Along the Way:

Dec 2015: The Un-listened to "Provided That"
Dec 2014: A Change of Face
Feb 2014: Resolution Reality Check
Jan 2013: Hope for my Resolutions