Going Beyond Failed Resolutions
Life has a funny way of showing up while we’re busy doing other things. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that this day – today – is NOT a dress rehearsal, it’s actually the REAL thing.
The holidays at the end of the year often are hectic times ….. finding gifts, wrapping them, shopping for meals, cooking them, 
cleaning the house for entertaining … then cleaning up after the party. And then – finally catching up on your rest!
And starting the whole cycle over again, expecting that this NEXT year overall will (hopefully) be even better than the one before. The way to make it happen? New Year’s Resolutions, of course!
So we’d like to ask … just how many of those were you able “to keep” this past year? – or the year before? – or for the last several years?
Let’s look toward a more successful future for you, okay? Some valuable hints follow …
Some of you know that I slipped and fell a few Novembers ago, completely rupturing my quadriceps tendon off the kneecap. A major and devastating injury – but one where the recovery can be complete, without future limitation. Surgery on Tuesday, November 29th … home a couple of days later. Doctor’s instructions: lie down to allow your leg to heal. Sure, I do that “lying down thing” really well – NOT!
The following weeks have given me much time to reflect on my life, my purpose, my goals, my interests, my time. And many times this past month I have thanked God for the blessing of a serious injury that forced me to “take time out” so that the rest of my time in life would be more keenly focused, more personally mine, more rewarding to my spirit. (Some people need to be hit with a bigger sledge-hammer to get them to jump off the gerbil-wheel and pause to reflect.)
As Shakespeare offered, “Life’s but a fleeting shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
Is that what I want MY life to be about? Certainly NOT! – after all, I’m ME, I’m important, I’m doing important things! ….. Or am I?
In my reflections over the past month, I have come to some realizations that are now driving some significant changes in my attitudes, my outlook, my actions and thoughts. In those few moments – as time almost stood still during the actual injury, as I felt my muscles ripping off the bone – my life changed.
Over the coming months and years, the impact of this injury will become even clearer as I discover my path for the remainder of my life. (Don’t they say that the first half is the hardest?)
So I thought to share with you some brief ideas that might give YOU pause to reflect in the coming days, to help make YOUR “resolutions” produce the results that you really DO want in your life.
FIRST – Set goals for “doing things” that take no more than 5 minutes in your day. Anything longer will be hard to carve out, at least on a routine basis, day after day. When you “do something” for “just 5 minutes a day” for a month, you have formed a new habit pattern – and that, my friends, is the path to success.
SECOND – Make it a point, every day, to list JUST 3 THINGS that you need to accomplish that day. Write them down, don’t just “think” about them. Start working on “number one,” then cross it off your list as you complete your task. Then go on to number two. And hopefully number three. When you finish these three important actions, you’ve really achieved something important for the day – far more than many of your friends will do that day, trust me! Feel free to list another 3 things, if you feel energetic and so inclined. Again, when you get into the habit of “making your list” each morning, you will be on your path to success.
THIRD – Set your goals as “immediate” (within the next week) and “short term” (within the next month) and “long term” (within the next six to twelve months). As you achieve each “immediate goal,” you will be WAY closer to achieving the “bigger” goals. Example: lose a pound THIS week. Or: exercise 3 days THIS week. Those who “go for broke” end up just that way: “broke” with “broken dreams” (meaning, dashed Resolutions)
FINALLY – Consider the ways that you can offer LOVE in your LIFE, to one or more people each day. Is it a “kiss goodbye” and a “kiss hello”
to your spouse each day? Or a smile and kind comment to a coworker … or maybe just the clerk at the grocery or department store? Or a way of saying “hello” on the phone, where the caller really “gets” that you mean it. The ways in YOUR life that you can personally “offer yourself” will seem to be endless, once you begin the journey to share your joy with others. Treasure your family, embrace your friends – and find ways to brighten the lives of strangers.
And ….. how about sharing with US your “wins” as you try some of these “hints” to help your life become ever more what you want it to be.
May you and your family have the HAPPIEST OF NEW YEARS as we boldly go forth in 2012.
— The Wonderful Staff of Life Celebrating Health … and personal best wishes from Dr. Trowbridge
