Resolution Free Zone

No more resolutions!

I declare this space a "resolution free zone"!  Each year in January we resolve to change, to improve, to enhance our lives in some way.  Not that I think this is a bad idea, its just that as I look over the past year I see how often I have attempted to "do" something to change and then abandoned it when failure seemed inevitable.

So this year I decided to do something different.  This year I will make a list not of what I am planning to do, but of what I am planning to "Stop Doing".  As I reviewed 2012 I found that there are many things I do that are positive, uplifting and profitable to myself and others.  However there are a few things that don't just need to change, they need to be stopped altogether!

Too often we resolve to do things like, eat better, exercise more, do random acts of kindness, etc.  All excellent goals.  But what if we re-wrote these goals to say:  Stop making poor food choices, Stop being a couch potato, Stop thinking only of yourself?

For me, the "Stop Doing" list is a truer picture of who I am and the person I want to become.

So here is part of my "Stop Doing" list for 2013:

• Stop blaming others for the bad things that happen to you
• Stop beating yourself up for mistakes and failures
• Stop spending so much time on leisure activities (T.V., Internet)
• Stop making lists (just kidding!)

Finally, I will continue to remind myself of the person I want to be - this song by Glen Campbell says it all:

A Little Less of Me

Let me be a little kinder 
Let me be a little blinder 
To the faults of those about me 
Let me praise a little more 

Let me be when I am weary 
Just a little bit more cheery 
Think a little more of others 
And a little less of me 

Let me be a little braver 
When temptation bids me waver 
Let me strive a little harder 
To be all that I should be 

Let me be a little meeker 
With the brother that is weaker 
Let me think more of my neighbor 
And a little less of me 

Let me be when I am weary 
Just a little bit more cheery 
Let me serve a little better 
Those that I am striving for 

Let me be a little meeker 
With the brother that is weaker 
Think a little more of others 
And a little less of me

 

What does your "stop doing" list look like?