With the New Year coming, many, as is tradition will make, what they call resolutions. Many will be easy, such as going on a temporary diet, infrequently going to the gym, or making time for others. I say these are easy because they are easily achieved in one's own mind, regardless of whether or not an actual change has occurred. The more difficult ones, whatever they may be, are rarely addressed for any substantial period of time, if ever. The idea that the first of the year is a new beginning, is something we tell ourselves, one week after actually treating people as they are meant to be treated. The following week, however, normalcy, animosity, envy, and a plethora of other words, most not-so-nice, ending in Y, start to sprout. So what is something we can all do, together, as a society, no matter how big or how small, that will change our world? Not The World, but our own internal and external worlds. What if we were all simply resolute?
Resolute, by definition, means "Admirably purposeful, determined, and unwavering."
The word derives from Latin and Old English words meaning paid, as in rent or other debts. So imagine, if instead of making random promises to ourselves regarding some insignificant weakness or flaw we see in ourselves, we make the promise to treat everything with this view. Instead of trying to achieve short-term goals by changing ourselves briefly, we commit to changing how we go about everything we do, forever. Instead of making a plea to lose this or that amount of weight in a given time, commit to never again weighing what you now weigh. No timeline, other than your own personal eternity. Instead of promising to spend more time with friends and family, make a devotion to freeing up time, to use as you see fit. Knowing that this time, as is most time, is better spent with others, than in solitude. Instead of planning to rid yourself of debt, make a mindful change in your acquisition of things. The absence of the need for stuff will almost accidentally free up more money. How you decide to use it will show how resolute you are. We all have our vices, kinks, and self-imposed burdens, but what if instead of attacking them in a singular fashion, we truly commit, not to the so-called fixing of an item on a checklist, but in how we perceive that checklist.
Many of our checklists are based, not on a personal vendetta against our own complacency, but are based on what we view as societal expectations. Lose weight, get in shape, stop smoking, drinking, eating, spend more time with family, volunteer, be kind, settle down, be financially responsible. These items are not something we set out to do in the first place, so reversing them seems an arduous task. Changing how we act instead of how we react will, over time, change us for the better, alleviating the stress of the pitfalls we've created.
Now, imagine if we all treated every day and all it brings us, this way?
Resolute, by definition, means "Admirably purposeful, determined, and unwavering."
The word derives from Latin and Old English words meaning paid, as in rent or other debts. So imagine, if instead of making random promises to ourselves regarding some insignificant weakness or flaw we see in ourselves, we make the promise to treat everything with this view. Instead of trying to achieve short-term goals by changing ourselves briefly, we commit to changing how we go about everything we do, forever. Instead of making a plea to lose this or that amount of weight in a given time, commit to never again weighing what you now weigh. No timeline, other than your own personal eternity. Instead of promising to spend more time with friends and family, make a devotion to freeing up time, to use as you see fit. Knowing that this time, as is most time, is better spent with others, than in solitude. Instead of planning to rid yourself of debt, make a mindful change in your acquisition of things. The absence of the need for stuff will almost accidentally free up more money. How you decide to use it will show how resolute you are. We all have our vices, kinks, and self-imposed burdens, but what if instead of attacking them in a singular fashion, we truly commit, not to the so-called fixing of an item on a checklist, but in how we perceive that checklist.
Many of our checklists are based, not on a personal vendetta against our own complacency, but are based on what we view as societal expectations. Lose weight, get in shape, stop smoking, drinking, eating, spend more time with family, volunteer, be kind, settle down, be financially responsible. These items are not something we set out to do in the first place, so reversing them seems an arduous task. Changing how we act instead of how we react will, over time, change us for the better, alleviating the stress of the pitfalls we've created.
Now, imagine if we all treated every day and all it brings us, this way?
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