It's that time of year. The beginning time of the year. When everyone seems to take stock of their lives. Or maybe that's not popular anymore - the whole "new year's resolution" thing... I gave it up for a while. What was the point? Making grand plans for a fresh start, a big change... only to fall off the wagon a few days or weeks later and wallow in guilt for a while, as the cliché goes... There's an episode of Will & Grace, when Grace vows to change - to be someone she's not so that some guy will like her. Will, grumpily, claims over and over: no one ever changes. After the usual misadventures caused by Grace trying to prove him wrong, she finally concedes: no one ever changes.
It's true.
Except, it's not.
People do change, but rarely as a result of hastily made new year's resolutions. It's got to be a gradual thing. You have to take baby steps. For the past 2 or 3 years, I haven't bothered with resolutions. And I suppose you could say I didn't bother this year either. But I *did* make some goals. Some realistic and attainable goals. And after I set those goals, I detailed some actions that would help me to reach those goals. And I wrote them down. And I plan on looking at them throughout the year. The trick is to keep it realistic. Start with the outrageous 10-year goal, and then work backwards. Anyone who looked at my goals for this year would probably think "that's not so hard" - but that's the point. All of my goals are just out of my reach, but if I keep reaching, the changes will get easier and hopefully become natural, eventually. Like pilates - you keep working on those positions and eventually you can reach your toes without wanting to scream in agony ...at least, that's what I've heard ;)
But it's got to be gradual. People don't change overnight. Well, not usually. And now I'm just rambling and probably being quite boring... but what I'm trying to say is that if the new year has you mesmerized and making grand plans to change all your bad habits just take a step back and reassess. I wish you luck on your path to self-improvement. The secret, I've discovered, is baby steps.
1 comment:
I have an inquiring mind... it's April and the flowers are blooming... they are here. What's happening in April for you?
Also, on my post for making a bon bon box, which I haven't made yet, I wrote harmonika because that's the way it translated and it really should have been accordion... thanks for the post. I was thinking of taking that harmonica and folding it back and forth... hahaha...
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