You know what I hate about New Year’s resolutions? They are more than a little defeatist. Think about it. At first you’re all like, “I’m gonna totally and completely change my life!” You do okay with your impossible goals for a couple days, maybe weeks, but then you slip up. And that slip up leads to another, then another, then a bunch more until finally you give up on them mall together and feel like a complete failure, gain 100 pounds, lose your job, move in with your parents, and spend all day searching for grumpy cat memes.
Wow, that got real. Sorry. I’m not sure where that came from.
Anyway, here’s the point: New Year’s Resolutions suck. But I still feel some kind of pull to better myself…dang it.
A few years ago a friend of mine shared what he does instead of making unrealistic goals. He choses a word. A single word. And that word becomes his guide for the whole year. As an example, last year my word was “Present” – as in I would be “in the now” with my decisions.
This year I had a kind of spiritual experience in selecting my word. I was on vacation in California with my kiddos and wifey and driving back I kept seeing this word graffitied everywhere. The word: AWARE. I don’t know if it’s a brand name something, or a band, or whatever but I do know that I saw it graffitied on a water tower, an overpass, a huge rock, and a billboard. The last time I saw it, it hit me like a ton of bricks. This is my word for the year. I am going to be AWARE. For me that means being aware of people around me. Focus outward.
So here’s to hoping your 2017 is full of change. Realistic change.