RESOLUTIONS, WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

We are now 3 months deep into 2019.

It’s time to take stock of the year thus far. In particular, those resolutions/intentions/actions and behaviours I swore to my self that I’d keep this year-round.

Every New Year’s Eve/ New Year’s Day the buzzword on everyone’s lips is ‘resolution’.

It suddenly takes top spot in daily conversations with colleagues and friends alike.

There’s something about resolutions, although totally well meaning, that seems to set me up for failure. I literally can’t remember a single resolution I’ve managed to keep in exactly the way I said I would for exactly as long as I said I would.

I am the queen of self-bargaining. Resetting the goal posts for myself whenever I want to be a little bit lenient with myself (it’s no shocker that self-discipline makes its way on my yearly ‘to work on’ list).

This was different though. I was determined to set myself up for success.

I gave the year themes – 2019, the year of JOY and PEACE

Then I wrote out my vision - It felt like a broader, more longsighted way of looking at the year.

Then I identified actions (daily, weekly, monthly) that would help me reach my vision and therefore make sure that my self-appointed themes would come to pass.

I was so OPTIMISTIC… Like so OPTIMISTIC.

But to be honest it feels like over the last 3 months I have battled flaming dumpster fire after flaming dumpster fire. At this point all I can do is laugh when a new thing crops up.

I say this to say, that no matter how much you plan, set your intentions and resolve to do one thing or another, life will continue to come at you hard. That is the inevitable, unpredictable reality of LIFE.

Even if you can’t plan life, you can plan how you choose to react to it.

That is what, I have learnt, is the power of setting my yearly themes, vision and actions (or however you choose to word it).

It has acted as a referral point and anchor for me when some of the harder stuff has tried to break me. It challenges me to hope and believe that life can and will take an upward turn towards the declarations I put in place at the beginning of the year.

And it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy when things are going well and I am on path to 2019 – the year of JOY and PEACE.

S.

One of my actions is to cultivate daily affirmation. This Morgan Harper Nichols quote has quickly become one of my favourites.