So often we set really high and inspiring New Year Resolutions only to get distracted or stumble at the starting gate and immediately lose our drive to go any further. Here’s some New Year Resolutions you can use all year round. There’s no long distance goal post. If you miss a week you can easily pick them up again the following week.
1) Feed them Feed me. This one I started on one of my trips to Philadelphia last year. I was amazed how many homeless people came out on the streets late afternoon begging for some coins to feed themselves for the night. I made a simple rule. Each time I eat at a restaurant I’ll feed a homeless person first. The first meal I bought was about $4 worth of pizza – hardly going to break the bank – and I took it to a rather astonished elderly African American man then proceeded on to my restaurant. When I passed by him again to take the train back to the hotel he gave me a BIG smile and a low regal bow. I blew him a kiss. This little moment still makes me smile a year later. Wouldn’t you like precious moments like these to smile about?
2) Limited Lows. With the world passing through this huge Shift in Consciousness pretty much all of us on the planet are going through rather dramatic mood swings. One day I’m up, bouncy, feeling happy. Next I’m feeling dismal, depressed and sad for no apparent reason. To avoid dropping into one of these moods for too long a period of time I can set some ground rules for myself.
e.g. It’s 5pm and I’m feeling low so, to avoid harming others with my words and actions, I’m going to lock myself in my room, beat the pillow/yell into the pillow/cry/roll into a ball, really allow that Low some time to ooze out. I’ll remind myself everyone on the planet is going through this and forgive myself for the down time. Then at 7.30pm I’m going to pick myself up, dance to my favourite tunes, relish a dinner of fresh ingredients and find something to keep my evening fun.
3) Find my tribe. How many days do you walk past the same people pretending they are not there? Try this one. Once a week I will smile/wave/say hello to one new person I see fairly regularly. It might be neighbour or someone I see on my regular daily travels. I aim to eventually find out their name and introduce myself, then use their name and greet them whenever I see them. Why do this? Making a connection with people around you adds to your sense of community which is much neglected these days. It makes you feel less alone and believe it or not, increases your support network. People I’ve done this for who I figure I could probably help have often turned the tables on me and given the best advice and support when I least expect it. Makes day to day commuting so much more fun too.
4) Laughter is the best medicine. Spending all your time running from one place to the next under medium to high stress takes a massive toll on your body and mind. Find an excuse each week to laugh until I cry, laugh until my belly hurts, laugh until I fall off my chair. When I set this as a rule for myself I found my immunity boosted, I was less often feeling “down”, had more inner strength and could cope better under pressure. Your own results from this simple but effective resolution may be different from mine, maybe even better. Feel free to share them – I’d love to hear how you go.
5) Lose the disapproval. This is one of my pet crusades. Disapproving of others in the way they dress, eat, speak, their manners, what music they like or how they chose to live their life can really screw YOU up inside but changes very little for the other person. Of course, it’s fine to speak up if what they are doing is actually harming themselves or others but most of the time disapprovals are frequent scowling at different choices they’ve made than we would make, so… when I see something I disapprove of, I take a deep breath and tell myself “Live and Let Live”.
Which of these will you find most useful?