Tuesday, December 6, 2011

My One (Real) Resolution

The year is almost over, and I will be setting my resolutions for 2012 soon. I have two different types of resolutions. The first is a wishlist of things I'd like to do, the usual "lose weight and play more tennis" resolutions that everyone makes and breaks. The other sort is more of a theme for the year and beyond-- one single thing I can focus on in everything I do to make my life better in the long run.

This will be the third year I've set this second kind of resolution. My previous themes were "Feel the fear; do it anyway," and "Embrace the adventure." These were life-changers for me. Fear kept me from doing so many things for so long, and I found that fighting the fear took all the energy and focus away from the thing I wanted to do. I started doing a lot more things when I decided to let the fear be and concentrate on the doing. And "embracing the adventure" was my pledge to myself to go beyond facing my fear to accept the opportunities and challenges that life put right in front of me. The rewards of living adventurously have been more than I could have imagined when I first decided I wanted to try it.

My theme this year is simple and practical: "Finish what you start."  So easy to say, so hard to do. I have faith that I'll make progress; I take this kind of resolution far more seriously than the other sort. My previous year themes became mantras that kept me going in the right direction when the going got tough, and I am sure I'll be repeating "finish what you start, finish what you start" under my breath all year whenever I have a hard time taking the next step or start to leave something half-done. By this time next year, it will just be the way I do things.

My other resolutions?  I'd like to dust off my rusty Spanish, finish projects I've already started, and officially convert to Orthodoxy. Oh, and I might actually do the blogging I resolved to do last year. Maybe.

1 comment:

  1. I like this type of resolution. All three of the ones you mentioned would fit me, since I'm weak in all those areas. This is probably why I'm way more comfortable with small, specific resolutions. Anyway, blog more--I'd love to hear more about this adventurous living.

    ReplyDelete