2014 Suggestions for Resolutions

And so a new year begins, 2014. Stepping into a new year is always exciting, for who knows what lies ahead. Many people resolve to personal accomplishments for a new year; however I am not one to make resolutions. I have pretended to make one or two flighty promises to myself in some years past. I say ‘pretend’ because I knew I would never really stick to them. That’s not to say that I didn’t try, but alas, life has a way of moving in unexpected directions sometimes, and those unrealistic resolutions tend take a backseat.

However there is one resolution that I made to myself many years ago, and I did stick to it.  It was more of an oath, really or you could call it a promise. It was as follows:

“Be who you are, let no one define you.”  

This was the most important resolution I ever made and I believe it is the most important suggestion I can give to anyone who is looking to make a life-long resolution. However, before one can make that promise to oneself, one must realize who one is and what that entails. Finding oneself is the first step, though not necessarily the most difficult. The most difficult is to stay true to oneself in the face of any and all adversity. That takes practice and determination. There may be those who disagree with you, or those who don’t understand you. There may even be those who decide to walk away from you. But those people really never knew who you were in the first place and it’s best to leave them to their own path. It’s truly better to be happy alone than miserable in a crowd.

My second suggestion for a life-long resolution is:

“Be kind, be generous.”

This is not always an easy resolution to stick with either. For we sometimes come across those people for whom it is difficult to extend kindness towards. Sometimes we might find that we are being used due to our generosity. Other times, we might come to realize that our acts of kindness or generosity are not helping or improving the person we are extending these things towards. We have to learn to recognize these situations and to kindly walk away without anger or bad feelings. In that you will find that you are not only extending kindness to the other person, but you are also being kind to yourself.

So these are my suggestions for New Year’s Resolutions.

Happy New Year, Everyone! Peace...