Chances are if you set a New Year’s resolution last week, you’ve already forgotten about it. Every year we go through the tradition of reevaluating our lives, and seeing what we can do better. So we buy lifestyle magazines, pick up hobbies, and buy a new cookbook with recipes for the latest diet. Unfortunately many of these quick fixes end up collecting dust.
So why is it on New Year’s we think we have the best intentions only to find out it was a passing fad? I thought about this a lot when I was in New York celebrating the close of a tough year. One afternoon I was walking up Mercer St. in SoHo and I passed a fancy lingerie store that posted “Forget New Year’s Resolutions and Follow Your Heart” in their front window. I’m sure they were going for the tease, but I thought they were really onto something with that ad.
So why is it on New Year’s we think we have the best intentions only to find out it was a passing fad? I thought about this a lot when I was in New York celebrating the close of a tough year. One afternoon I was walking up Mercer St. in SoHo and I passed a fancy lingerie store that posted “Forget New Year’s Resolutions and Follow Your Heart” in their front window. I’m sure they were going for the tease, but I thought they were really onto something with that ad.
Maybe this year you thought, “I want to be prettier, healthier, skinnier, happier”... So we think this means gym membership, diet, better job, more money, etc. But too often these “resolutions” turn into temporary solutions for superficial problems. So they fall flat and never create any real change. If we actually want to make this planet clean again, it will take heart-felt ideas that last.
Creating change requires you to re-pattern your current routine. You have to know whether or not it’s worth it to you to create something new in your life. And in order to know that, yes here’s where the major cheesy line comes in, you have to listen to your heart. Because the longest lasting change is built steadily with care and intention.
Creating change requires you to re-pattern your current routine. You have to know whether or not it’s worth it to you to create something new in your life. And in order to know that, yes here’s where the major cheesy line comes in, you have to listen to your heart. Because the longest lasting change is built steadily with care and intention.
So what would a journey towards change look like? You have to be willing to go back. Back to the start and let inspiration arise from within. Then analyze whether or not the idea is a conditional contribution, or if you are expecting to get something out of it. Do what makes you feel good and see how it starts to take hold. The result will come back to you, and bring you everything you wanted.
Pet projects are great for trying something new. But think about what can become a simple and integrated practice so that it sticks with you and has deeper impact on your life and the lives of those around you. For example, by simply deciding to smile more you will feel happier, lighten up things for others, and create a more positive environment. Happy hearts... lead to healthy minds... which result in clean actions.
Here’s to a cleaner planet in 2011!
Pet projects are great for trying something new. But think about what can become a simple and integrated practice so that it sticks with you and has deeper impact on your life and the lives of those around you. For example, by simply deciding to smile more you will feel happier, lighten up things for others, and create a more positive environment. Happy hearts... lead to healthy minds... which result in clean actions.
Here’s to a cleaner planet in 2011!