new years resolutions Archives - Adulting: Second- Half

Differently

I read an excellent article by Karen Nimmo this morning. She writes that when deciding what we want in 2023, we should ask ourselves this question: “What do I want to do differently next year?” She also suggests that we spend some time with this prompt: “I’d like to spend more time . . .”

If we spend some time seriously pondering these ideas, and then actually write our answers down, we can have a template to reflect back on when nasty old habits, routines, and living life on auto-pilot starts inevitably occurring in the new year. We can remind ourselves of what is truly important and nourishing to our souls and we can live 2023 more purposefully than we have ever lived before.

This can be so much for effective than making new year’s resolutions that most people break before February even arrives. I’ve written this before but it bears repeating: Run towards what you DO want, not away from what you don’t want. If you just “run away” you tend to run aimlessly into the first “escape” that appears. If you run towards what you DO want, you have an aim and a purpose and a mission. If you ask yourself why you want what you are running towards, and write those reasons down, too, this will give clarity, passion and understanding to the needs you are trying to meet for yourself.

What do I want to do differently next year?

I’d like to spend more time . . . . .

If you care to share your own answers to these questions in my comments section, I would be delighted to read them. They may spark intriguing, inspirational ideas for me and for my other readers. Thank you in advance. Happy December!!

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Here’s Some Inspiration

I love this post. At this time of year, when so many of us are thinking about resolutions/intentions for what we want in this new year, this inspiration versus motivation is such an important distinction. When you think about an intention you have for the new year, for example losing weight, or travelling more, or moving to a new location, etc., the best way to get to “the heart of it all” is to ask yourself “why” you want these things. Usually the answers to the whys, always include feelings. Here are some general examples: I want to lose weight because I want to feel healthier and more self-confident. I want to feel prettier in my clothes. I want to save more money because I want to feel more secure. I want to go on a couple of vacations because I want to feel the excitement that comes from new adventures.

Feelings come from the heart. They have intensity. Feelings are powerful compared to the often meaningless blips that are our thoughts. Thoughts are only powerful when there are feelings attached to the thoughts. Thoughts come and go, unless they are attached to powerful feelings stemming from our hearts. When you are pondering ideas for what you want in 2022, write these wants down and then write down why you want these things. You will find that the answer is almost always a feeling. Sometimes, you will realize that you can get that desired feeling in an easier way, than what you originally thought you would need to do in order to attain that feeling which you are so desiring.

I love writing this blog so much, because I am inspired to do so. Sometimes I am even surprised to see the words that land on the screen. If I only wrote this blog because I felt like “I should” or “I have to”, Adulting- Second Half would have ended in the first year that I started it. Probably, it would have even ended in the first month that I started it back in the summer of 2018. Without inspiration, I am not very motivated at all. My mind can help me to write a nice paragraph and remember some grammar rules, but the meaning of my words has to come from my heart, otherwise this blog is pointless to you and to me. I am inspired to write this blog because it is an extension of what is inside of my heart. I am attached to this blog from the bottom of my heart, and by extension I feel true fondness and connection with you, my readers. Heartstrings are so much stronger and connecting, than the electrical blips that are our thoughts.

Maybe the best resolution/intention for all of us this year, is to do more of what truly inspires us. The answers to what are our own true inspirations are unique and original to each of us, and our inspirations can only be found in our hearts. Who/what/where makes your heart leap? Be inspired to live your life from your deepest creative inclinations. They were put there for a reason. We are all co-creating with the Divine all of the time, in order to build this majestic tapestry that we call Life. What you are really supposed to do in your life, you will be inspired to do it, and your motivation to do it, won’t even be a question. Once inspired, motivation is a given.

60 Best Inspirational Quotes About Life — Short Inspiring Quotes

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Monday – Funday

The best funny New Year's memes to share on social media

Why is it that when I’m sick, all that I want to do is to eat, in order to feel better? It’s like if I can just find the right breakfast combination of leftover chicken salad, crackers, a banana and a couple of Ghirardelli peppermint snowmen, and wash it down with a shot of Dayquil, I will be instantly done with my lingering cough from COVID. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll stick my head in the ‘fridge and I’ll try a new combination of wonder foods.

I wish that I were one of those people who loses my appetite when I am sick, but that is rarely the case. Unless I have a stomach bug, my body tends to scream, “Feed me! Feed me NOW! Food is the only thing that will make us feel better.” And what’s worse, it’s not like I have the mojo to walk off the extra calories. Sigh.

Money or Health? You can't enjoy your money if you're sick • Save. Spend. Splurge.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Good Neighbors

Fortune for the day –“From their errors and mistakes, the wise and good learn wisdom for the future.” – Plutarch

My husband and I sometimes act like cranky old fogies when it comes to today’s new inventions. We have often giggled about our friends and relations, who have cameras all over their homes, as if they live in the White House, or Fort Knox, or an American embassy in the Middle East, or something. (Our course we have two large, annoying dogs who would lick any unlucky, unwise intruder, to death, in a matter of minutes, so we are safe. Ha!) Perhaps I may be guilty of naivete or even more so, of the old adage, “What I don’t know, can’t hurt me,” as I insert my head into the warm Florida sand. So imagine my surprise, when I got a little choked up at a Ring TV commercial being played during last night’s championship football game. Ring sells doorbell cameras and video cams, among other security products. Typically, I get annoyed at companies whose profits come from playing off of people’s biggest fears, but I got a new perspective about Ring last night with this spot:

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/Zj69/ring-good-neighbors

Essentially, Ring showed real footage of people being caught being kind. Ring showed a series of real people doing what most of us people try to be – good neighbors. It warms my heart to watch it (again and again) and usually, I can’t stand commercials. I would typically scoff at buying a Ring doorbell, but this ad honestly made me reconsider my position. Now that is what I call good marketing. As stated at the end of the advertisement, “Thank you, my brother. I appreciate you.”

“Thank you, my brother. I appreciate you.” Let’s practice saying that a little more in 2020. I imagine that would go a long ways in changing the world into a better place, if everyone made that a new year’s resolution/intention. And that resolution is easier to keep, and feels a hell of a lot better than starving ourselves, on celery quinoa diets, to try to lose a few pounds.

And readers, “Thank you, my brothers and sisters. I appreciate you.” (from the depths of my sincerest heart)

Hey Friend

“I’ve decided my 2019 will start on February 1st. January is a free trial month.” – Daily Positive Information

My friend sent the above quote to our group chat the other day. I love it. I find it to be very true. I always feel like a racehorse at the starting gate on the first days of the year, eager to gallop towards my goals and ambitions and desired changes, but usually right around this time, I feel slowed, muddled and frustrated. I read something recently about the fact that most successful CEOs only schedule about 40-50% of their time because they are fully aware that interruptions and diversions and surprises are the likely to happen, in the course of any particular day.

It seems that when we consider our resolutions or at the very least, our intentions for the year, we sometimes get so excited that we forget that life still happens. We envision going full tilt on our dreams and visions, forgetting that all of the mundane still needs to be addressed. Haircuts, car repairs, getting sick, taxes, grocery shopping etc. are all facts of life that aren’t going to disappear so we can fully focus on just what ignites our passions. Maybe that is why resolutions/intentions are so quickly put by the wayside. Maybe it is better to start the year, fully accepting that 40-50% of our time is probably already taken up by the banal, day-to-day, need-to-dos in our lives. Our job is to make sure that we are filling that other 50-60% with the stuff that makes our hearts sing. Maybe this natural slowing down of our excitement for change and growth is a healthy thing, to make sure that we are headed in the directions that we really want to go to, in our lives.

“Hey friend, don’t you dare forget, as you are creating a new you, that there’s a whole lot about the old you that is worth keeping.” – Toni Sorenson

Just Three Words

I was reading an interesting post on Smart Thinking on Twitter. The author asked his followers to describe 2018 in three words. Some people didn’t have such a great 2018. Here were some of their answers:

I no like.

Thank you, next.

Ha, I tried.

2019 Come Fast.

Waste of time.

Worst so far.

WTF

It sounds like some people had an above average kind of a year. Here are their replies:

Ups and Downs.

Not so Bad.

Follow Your Heart.

Learned to Forgive.

Persistence, perspiration and patience

Some people seemed to really like 2018. This is how they answered:

Change is good.

All is well.

Fun, teaching, travel.

Blessed. Loved. Strengthened.

A great year.

One person just came off as funny and clever. This is how he answered:

Two thousand eighteen.

If I were to answer the question, Exciting, Exhilarating and Exhausting came to mind right away. I wouldn’t mind for 2019 to be those same three words, although I somehow would like to change “exhausting” to “energizing.” I probably should put a little more emphasis on physical health this coming year, for that to happen.

I like reflecting on the past year, thinking about what I would like to keep in the new year and what has served its purpose, and now is time to discard. I read recently to not call goals for the new year “resolutions”, but more “intentions”, to keep the focus on the positive and the possible. I like that. I also read recently that if you are having a hard time deciding what you want in life, think about the things that you don’t want and turn that around to what you do want. So, if you don’t want drama and craziness in 2019, that can be turned around to what you do want – peace and harmony. Once you figure out what you do want, you can think about smaller steps you can take to achieve your intention.

I’ve always enjoyed this time of year. I find it, well, Exciting, Exhilarating and Energizing! How would you describe your 2018 in three words? How would you like to describe your upcoming 2019 in three words, using your best intentions?

Because, as one responder stated:

Life goes on.