Is your ward like mine – that first Sunday of January brings another round of Sacrament Meeting talks on setting goals? For the record, I love those talks. I’m actually a big fan of liturgical calendars and wish we Mormons had one. I’ll take whatever unofficial liturgy I can get! And no, I haven’t been asked to give a talk on January 1st. I guess I’m just a few weeks ahead of the schedule today. Something about the end of the school semester gets me into goal mode. This mode, however, is no longer synonymous with resolution mode.
I gave up on New Year’s Resolutions a couple of years, sick of writing down the words “lose weight” year after year, only to then write the same phrase with the same pen in the same notebook twelve months later. Ironic then, of course, that once I dropped the faux resolve, I managed to make gym going a habit. But since that realization, instead of baldly stated, soon to be neglected resolves, I’m taking a page from a Wayne Dyer-esque visualization book and writing down what I want in my life instead of just making a burdensome to do list.
So here are my intentions for this next trip around the sun. And an announcement, in keeping with the big birthday I will be celebrating in the upcoming year: 2012 is going to bring life, love and the pursuit of awesomeness!
- I want to feel (mostly) content.
- I want to really enjoy my beautiful children and help them feel loved, listened to, protected and ready for life.
- I want to run a tight(er) ship at home re: homework, music practice, basketball drills, chores, allowance, scripture study, flossing.
- I want to stop piddly-ing away money on eye cremes that I haven’t fully researched in Real Simple.
- I also want to give more money in fast offerings, including donations to kiva.org, Habitat for Humanity and Partners in Health.
- I want my inner ant to put my inner grasshopper in her place.
- I want to live in the present moment, aware of the sensory world in a real, thoughtful way.
- I want to remember anicca – a Buddhist concept of impermanence that when understood helps one avoid getting all jiggy or clingy about life’s ups and downs.
- I want to be more spiritually minded, compassionate, seeking and giving – and I want to better instill those patterns in my children.
- I want to be like Jesus.
- I want to spend more time outside, enjoying nature, floating on the water, finding water upon which I can float, experiencing the corner of the world where I live, as ordinary as it may be.
- I want to feel and be anxiously engaged in a full life and a good cause.
- I want to hone my creative/performing skills through steady practice, solid instruction and stage use.
- I want to compost.
- I want to be a more mindful, wise, engaging, effective instructor who makes a difference in the skill levels of the students who come into my life each semester.
- I want to find and bring my A game.
- I want more of that energy that comes from exercise.
- I want some swagger.
- I want my actions to better follow my values.
- I want to figure out who I am.
- I want to be the kind of person, mother, daughter, friend, Mormon, sister, homemaker, teacher, writer, neighbor, partner, human I would be proud of and okay with at the end of my turn on earth.
- I want to wrap my arms around 40 and french kiss the heck out of this next decade!
Love this, Erin! What a beautiful, inspiring post!
Question: what’s anicca?
Should have clarified – “anicca” is a pali word (I believe … though maybe sanskrit) for the concept of impermanence … everything changes, nothing lasts, no use clinging to either positive or negative feelings because all feelings change, just like the seasons.
(Except here in Texas, we don’t have ENOUGH anicca in our seasons – four months of 100+ temperatures is just cosmically wrong!)
Almost everyone could use a little more swagger ;)
I enjoyed this! :-)
Erin, rockin’ the bells! Always clever and moving–what a nice combination.
Erin, you are too smart for me. But I can tell you a little about composting sometime!
Erin, I think you should repost this in January when we’re recovering from the holidays. I was thinking about it this morning even though it’s been awhile since it was posted, and I’m finally coming up with some ideas of my own, but, bless your heart, you were way too enthusiastic for me when you posted this.
And, one of my ideas has to do with composting and worms…..
I’m not positive where you are getting your info, however great topic. I must spend some time studying much more or working out more. Thank you for magnificent info I was on the lookout for this info for my mission.