6-Word Resolutions to Write on the Clean Slate

Here it is, folks, the clean page, the empty slate, the fresh start. A brand spankin' sparkly new New Year with all its hope and promise. Every year I make resolutions because they do serve me. I print them out , I repeat them in my journal and I write them in a fine hand to go on the refrigerator. I strive to keep them. Often, they form the basis for my Lenten Sacrifices and my Advent promises. 

I checked to see how I did last year. I am pleased with the results.

2013 6-Word Resolutions

Quiet: Take time every day to listen 

Exercise: 2 hours, 6 days, every week 

Nourish: Food that feeds me body and soul

Play:  Time each day with each one

Love:  Notice resistance, be myself, embrace vulnerability

Serve: Offer what I have freely, frequently

 I was very successful with Quiet, Nourish, Love, and Serve. Exercise fell apart in late March when I had my "spa vacation" at Seton. I had a tough time starting up again vigorously after the excitement in July but am full steam ahead now. At present, I'm doing an hour a day, 6 days. I will build up slowly from there.

Play also suffered some. I have shown some improvement with school out for the holidays but I do want to be mindful of each member of the family needing my undivided attention, even briefly, every day. 

Over all, it was a successful year. I feel sure I'd have not made this much progress without my resolutions to remind and guide me. I thought about just re-running them for this year, but instead took a fresh look.

I love the 6-word resolutions because they force me to think about what matters most to me. I hope you will consider some categories for yourself and give it a try.

Without further ado, here are my resolutions for 2014:

Health and Body - Fight hard every day, eat sustain-ably

 Education and Spiritual Growth - Bellarmine, de Montfort, reading, meditation and prayer

Vocation/Work - Learn Spanish, dream big, be daring

Relationships- Love with passion, live with forgiveness

Money and  Possessions -Acquire less, give lots, save more

Service - Choose and serve with care;  stay connected

So how about you? Any resolutions this year? My hope is that your 2014 will be filled with love and light and your resolutions be kept! Blessings.

Still Learning - Resolution Reboot

It's almost 4 weeks into the new year and time to check in on my New Year's Resolutions.  If you are now smacking yourself in the forehead and saying, "Oh, yeah, New Years resolutions," maybe it's time for a resolution reboot for yourself!

This year I made a new set of 6-word Resolutions, and 4 weeks later, I still think they fit:

Quiet: Take time every day to listen

Exercise: 2 hours, 6 days, every week

Nourish: Food that feeds me body and soul

Play:  Time each day with each one

Love:  Notice resistance, be myself, embrace vulnerability

Serve: Offer what I have freely, frequently

I am rocking my "quiet time."  I have some specifics to my plan which include a minimum of 10 minutes each for meditation, life-giving reading, and journal writing, as well as structured processing and daily Mass 5 days a week.  If this sounds like a lot to you, just imagine how noisy my world is and you can imagine that I may need a bit more structured quiet time than some do. 

I am doing stellar with "Serve" right now - and all it implies - and am pleased at my sudden willingness to be very discerning about the ways in which I serve; I am focusing on what is most in line with my purpose in life. I am hitting about 80% on "play" too and have a good eye on my stumbling blocks so I am on track for improvement.

Exercise and nourishing food are my current sticking points. It's not that it's too much for my body, it's my mind that is struggling. My (false) mind talk is, "You shouldn't have to work this hard. It's not fair." And the very dangerous and alluring, "You deserve a break. You've been working so hard." Yes, this is where I get into trouble. It's a vortex and once it has sucked me in, I have to struggle against the inertia to get back out.  You are familiar with Newton's First Law of Motion, right? Each day I am recommitting and looking at what happened this time. I keep reminding myself, "It's one more time, it's not too many times."

I am closing in on the false beliefs that are tripping me up, but I'm still a bit in the dark about it. As a child, I visited Mammoth Caves, a National Park in Kentucky. Our guide led us deeper and deeper into the dark and cold cavern and then at one point, all the lights were extinguished. At first, I could not see my hand (literally) in front of my face.  Eventually, though, my eyes adjusted and I began to see the light. I could not make out what I was seeing, at first -- it was just a series of grayish blobs --but soon I recognized that it was the far end of the "gallery" in which we were standing. As I relaxed and put some breath in my body, I was able, slowly, to know I was seeing some formations on that far wall, illuminated by some source of daylight beyond the corner.

That's about where I am in untangling those deeply rooted falsehoods that are keeping me down.  It  ties to my fifth resolution, especially, "embrace vulnerability." In my work, I can see how as a very young child I made a determination to be self reliant. While self-reliance can be an admirable trait, in can also be what deludes me into thinking that "I am in charge" and that I can control things which, frankly, are beyond my control. I'm getting closer to that source of light and can sense a breakthrough right around the corner.

In the meantime, I am very grateful for my resolutions. For me, it's not about being 100% all the time; I'd probably be thinking they were too easy were that the case! Some years, I find they are too ambitious and need to course correct; for now, that is not the case. Instead, these resolutions -- conscious choices, if you will -- are the way in which I am discovering my opportunities for growth.  Trying and succeeding, as well as trying and failing, are the proof that I am alive, still learning, still growing, on an onward course of discovery.

No matter what happens today, that knowledge will be enough tomorrow to "pick myself up, dust myself off and start all over again." Ah.

New Year's Revolution

I am facing a clean page, a clean slate, a new year. I realize the end of the year is an arbitrary thing and that the calendar is mankind’s invention. Yet I think the year “ends” for a reason and that reason is grace. Humans need a new beginning. We need a fresh start, another chance, hope.

I am a resolutionist. You read that right -- a resolution-ist. Each year I make resolutions and I use them as a springboard to real and lasting change. Perhaps you could call me a revolutionist, because what I am going for is a revolution in my life.

I think resolutions, in general, are under-appreciated. Most people do not realize the innovative power of the fresh page. Simply promising to do things differently or be different is, of course, not enough. A successful revolution requires a leader, a plan, and a change in consciousness. In order to have a successful revolution, I have to be willing to be a leader in my own life.

It seems obvious, doesn’t it? And yet becoming a leader in one’s own life is indeed a revolutionary step. It means that we can no longer blame our parents, our spouse, our past or fate for our unhappiness or lack of success. It means that I and I alone am responsible for building the life I want to live and creating the world in which I want to live it. It sounds like blasphemy, doesn’t it?

I am not suggesting that God does not have a place in my life. Not at all. I’m suggesting that God is not responsible for my unhappiness which could, indeed, be called unfaithfulness. We have shared responsibility-- co-authorship-- if you will. God is responsible for things in God’s realm, and I am responsible for things in my realm. And peace of mind certainly lies in knowing which is which.

Hence, I am once again a resolutionist. Things will change in my life once more, and I will once again be the author of that change, God – and I – willing.

This year I will use a pattern I found some time ago, the six-word resolution. I will make a resolution in each of six areas of my life: (1) Health and Body,(2) Education and Spiritual Growth, (3) Vocation/Work, (4) Relationships, (5) Money and Material Possessions, and (6) Service. Step Two of my private revolution is to choose specific actions for creating the change and checkpoints for accountability. The reason many resolutions fail is because most people do not take the time for Step Two. Of course Step Three is living it out –putting my revolution where my mouth is -- and making reasonable adjustments as I go.

Here are my resolutions for 2011; may they inspire you to map out your own New Year’s Revolution!

• Health and Body: Get to my goal weight; maintain.
• Education and Spiritual growth: Daily writing and reflection; more collaboration
• Work/Vocation: Implement a marketing plan for Coaching
• Relationships: Play often, laugh lots, love more
• Money and Material Possessions: Cull out, organize; acquire and waste less
• Service: More time and attention to fostering