Outside…
Inside…(the “junk drawer” of actionchurch)
I’m not one to make “New Year’s resolutions” but I’m considering “resolving” to clean out my briefcase… Sure it looks sweet on the outside :-) but it is starting to get a bit messy inside. I hate to get rid of anything in there though because everything in it is needed at some point on Sunday…
What’s on your “to do” list for ’09?
I don’t make New Year’s resolutions, per se, mostly b/c my resolve for whatever it is always wanes in a week or two. Instead I do something else along the same lines but it is more like an annual theme for living as opposed to a specific action or new behavior that only sets me up for failure.
I started this practice 3 years ago after a personal loss and at first, it was geared for my children, but now I see how we all benefit from living with a specific theme. The first year was The Year of the P.E.A, an acronym for Personal Enrichment Activity. This theme evolved out of the uncertainty that resulted from our tragedy and my fear that my kids would only cling to things that were safe and known. This themed turned out to be just as beneficial for me as it was for them. For the whole year we focused on attempts (individually) to deliberatly step outside our comfort zone– to try new things. This could be something as benign as trying a new food, to meeting new people, to going someplace we’d never been, to learning a new skill. The point was to engage in something that might, at first, be uncomfortable or scary, but that in the end would edify or benefit us. In the beginning, my kids laughed at me when I’d ask them if they had a P.E.A. lately. But as time passed, as I had hoped, my seed had been planted and they were more aware and willing to engage in new things and be open to opportunties that could yield personal growth.
Last year was dubbed The Year of Independence and Responsibility. I put a sign on my frig with this title and defined the words. We selected this theme by pulling ideas out of a hat– it was one of many ideas– and it was a perfect one. As I took on a new job this past fall that had me working long hours plus consumed my free time, my kids really needed to step up to the plate and help me run the house as well as be more pro-active at managing their own lives responsibly. I have to say that I am very proud of them for the independence that they demonstrated.
This year, there was no picking a theme. I designated it based on behaviors that I noticed among my 3 (typical, so I’m told) teenagers, namely that they seemed to treat each other with such disregard. I just didn’t like the way they were acting towards each other and I really hope they were not treating friends or strangers that way! So, in two days, we begin The Year of Kindness and Encouragement. And yes, I have printed it out, defined these important terms, and hung thy flyer on my frig so that there is no excuse. I am hoping that by subliminally and directly reminding them (and me too) of what kindness and encouragement is, that we might be more supportive of each other and ultimately that we will be more conscious of incorporating these positive qualities into our daily lives.
Do my annual themes always create the desired effect? Not always, but on the whole they serve as a worthy goal for living and have evolved into a practice that gently reminds us of an ideal that we are working towards.
I really like your yearly “theme” idea… I find that I stick with artificial “goals” for about five minutes, but I can strive for things I am passionate about for YEARS. Good thoughts, thanks.