Monday, January 4, 2010

This Year I Resolve To ---

And then, of course, I won't. I wasn't surprised when I heard on the radio that few people actually keep their New Years' Resolutions.
First of all, a year is a really long time to resolve to do or to not do anything. People recovering from addictions know that sometimes even one day of resolving seems like an eternity.
Second of all, most of us resolve to do to much. For example -- I resolve to run three miles each day. I can resolve all I want. Chances are, though, I am not going to run three or even two miles a day. Right now I wouldn't even resolve to run one mile a day. What I can resolve to do, though, is walk twenty minutes a day. I can resolve to read one of the great books each week but I'm not going to do it because that would be too much to take on.
So the trouble with our resolutions is not our intentions or even our ultimate, long range goals. The trouble is that we want our end results right away. The best way to be successful is to resolved to do just a little each day. Those little steps add up at the end of the year to something great and large and wonderful.
We just need to be patient.
And maybe that's the hardest resolution of them all.

2 comments:

Tom Walker said...

I resolve to read witsendmagazine at least once a day and maybe even post something myself if I have anything to say, which is unlikely.

MaryWalkerBaron said...

Sounds good to me.