The New Year
seems to bring a flurry of resolutions: lose weight, stop smoking, get out of
debt, get more active. Ever wonder why
we wait until the New Year to change? Isn't each day an opportunity to change, to recreate? I
stopped New Year’s resolutions quite some time ago. I couldn’t seem to stick with them, perhaps
because the resolution was too vague and not focused enough, or maybe because the
resolution was too lofty and not incremental enough. In any case, what I set out to do with the
best of intentions, ended sometimes gradually, sometimes with a thud, and
almost always without success.
Instead of
changing something I was or wasn’t doing, I decided to change how I thought. Henri-Frédéric
Amiel wrote, “All appears to change when we change.” I tend to believe that. I believe that our attitude shapes our
response to situations, to events and to people who come and go in our lives.
Our frame of reference shapes our response.
Sometimes our frame of reference is automatic, conditioned by time and
the repetitiveness of the situations we find ourselves in, sometimes the
monotony of the circumstances we place ourselves in. Because of a past experience with someone,
our response to them is automatic without a second thought, without hesitation
and without giving him or her a chance.
Perhaps if we took a deep breath, if we paused and gave that someone a chance,
our response, and more importantly, the response we’d like to get might change
for the better.
But ultimately,
it is dependent upon us: our attitude, our willingness to step out of the box
we’ve created for ourselves, and perhaps the box we’ve created for others, and
try to do and think differently. Change is sometimes difficult, sometimes
unwelcome, and might mean that we think and do something we haven’t thought of
or done before. However, I challenge you
to try it: you might like it, and more importantly, like the result. Start tomorrow- don't wait until New Years!
Live Your Life, and Make A Difference!