Thoughts on 2010
Unfortunately I can't take credit for the following but it touched me enough to want to share. The words belong to Jenna, author of the Cold Antler Farm blog.
"For what it's worth, here is some advice from me. Don't attempt to be a drastically better person in the next calendar year. Don't plan on being thirty pounds thinner, or sixty-thousand dollars richer, or the front man of your own band. Instead, how about just trying to be a slightly better person in the next sixty minutes. This may sound like a weak attempt but it's not. Results happen slowly and only when we focus on what we want and who we want to become right now. If you want more money, for the next hour, don't spend any and try and pull a quarter off the floor of your car. If you want to lose weight, try not to eat that candy bar for the next hour, and walk up the stairs instead of taking the elevator. If you want to be kinder, spend the next hour on the phone with old friend and tell her you miss her. If you want to plant a garden, raise chickens, or own a farm-spend the next hour online ordering seed catalogs or going to the library for a book on coop building. Make small changes constantly and just try to meet that next turn of the clock one hour smarter, one hour thinner, one hour kinder, and one hour richer and watch your life change.
If everyone could just see the day as 24 chances to make their life a little better, imagine the resolutions that could be met? I try to be an hour better, every hour, and hope those choices add up into something I can grasp with both hands. I think total dedication to the present is what improves ourselves, and not the empty promises that are too big to get our arms around. Just try be one hour better, starting right now. My favorite movie whispers the quote "that every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around". It's a chance worth taking."
The line "I think total dedication to the present is what improves ourselves" really hits home. As someone who is always thinking ahead to the next thing or trying to re-live past successes and mistakes, I have a hard time living in the now. It was one of my resolutions from last year. It was my Ice Skating in Amsterdam resolution. Two years ago, we were in Amsterdam for my father-in-law's retirement trip. We'd had dinner at this little pub (most of which our party of 10 occupied) and then seen a comedy show at Boom Chicago. We'd had a few drinks at dinner and were in a great mood after the show. Boom Chicago is located on Leidseplein, a square in the heart of the city. The square had been transformed into an ice skating rink decorated for Christmas. We decided in the spur of the moment to go ice skating. Some time while skating beside Blake and my brother-in-law, I realized I was living in the now. I wasn't thinking about what I did or didn't do two weeks ago and I wasn't thinking about what I was going to be doing in a month. I was just ice skating in Amsterdam.
I think that will be my resolution again this year. I didn't totally accomplish it last year (and frankly, doubt I ever will). But in 2009 I made little steps in that direction. So I think I'll keep going.
"For what it's worth, here is some advice from me. Don't attempt to be a drastically better person in the next calendar year. Don't plan on being thirty pounds thinner, or sixty-thousand dollars richer, or the front man of your own band. Instead, how about just trying to be a slightly better person in the next sixty minutes. This may sound like a weak attempt but it's not. Results happen slowly and only when we focus on what we want and who we want to become right now. If you want more money, for the next hour, don't spend any and try and pull a quarter off the floor of your car. If you want to lose weight, try not to eat that candy bar for the next hour, and walk up the stairs instead of taking the elevator. If you want to be kinder, spend the next hour on the phone with old friend and tell her you miss her. If you want to plant a garden, raise chickens, or own a farm-spend the next hour online ordering seed catalogs or going to the library for a book on coop building. Make small changes constantly and just try to meet that next turn of the clock one hour smarter, one hour thinner, one hour kinder, and one hour richer and watch your life change.
If everyone could just see the day as 24 chances to make their life a little better, imagine the resolutions that could be met? I try to be an hour better, every hour, and hope those choices add up into something I can grasp with both hands. I think total dedication to the present is what improves ourselves, and not the empty promises that are too big to get our arms around. Just try be one hour better, starting right now. My favorite movie whispers the quote "that every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around". It's a chance worth taking."
The line "I think total dedication to the present is what improves ourselves" really hits home. As someone who is always thinking ahead to the next thing or trying to re-live past successes and mistakes, I have a hard time living in the now. It was one of my resolutions from last year. It was my Ice Skating in Amsterdam resolution. Two years ago, we were in Amsterdam for my father-in-law's retirement trip. We'd had dinner at this little pub (most of which our party of 10 occupied) and then seen a comedy show at Boom Chicago. We'd had a few drinks at dinner and were in a great mood after the show. Boom Chicago is located on Leidseplein, a square in the heart of the city. The square had been transformed into an ice skating rink decorated for Christmas. We decided in the spur of the moment to go ice skating. Some time while skating beside Blake and my brother-in-law, I realized I was living in the now. I wasn't thinking about what I did or didn't do two weeks ago and I wasn't thinking about what I was going to be doing in a month. I was just ice skating in Amsterdam.
I think that will be my resolution again this year. I didn't totally accomplish it last year (and frankly, doubt I ever will). But in 2009 I made little steps in that direction. So I think I'll keep going.