OK, it's 2014, and we've all made those pesky resolutions. Yeah, we've decided to get in shape, stop doing this or that, make sure we do other things, etc. We've all done it a little, at least in our heads, if not on paper or digitally. We look back at our failures of the last year and see where and how we want to make a change in our lives, and make plans. Oh, we love to plan. We're REALLY good at laying plans, as a matter of fact. We're SO good at it, we tend to do a lot of planning, and put off actualizing those changes until "THE PLAN" is in place. Then it's too late, and we discover that there is no way we can live up to our plan, because we've gone and planned too big. So we revise the plan. We make it smaller and smaller and smaller until the net change is...minimal, at best. We often get disheartened by this.
I was reminded of something yesterday, though, that might be a good reminder for us all: Take time for ME. It's something I've known for a while: that if I do not take time to do the things I want to do - whether time in my workshop, time spent writing, riding my bike, or whatever else there may be - I become less happy. It takes a lot of time for it to happen, but here's how it works: it starts with a little thing here and there. "Sure, I don't need to do that today, I can do something for someone else." And before you know it, there's all sorts of time lost, one hour at a clip. And each and every time, it's a decision that I've made. It's my fault, no question. It's not a fault to be generous with my time to others - that's a good quality, in fact. No, the fault is that I do not take the time to be generous to myself in the same manner in which I am generous to others.
Of course, I'm not saying that we should strive to take care of good old #1 before anything else, but in my case, it's important to remember that if there is no maintenance done for A#1, top of the list, king of the hill, ME, then I'm going to run out of steam and grow hollow inside. I've been there before, and frankly, it's not a fun place to be. When you're hollow inside, life stinks.
So what changes can I make to accomplish this self-maintenance thing? Particularly in a year where my fiancee and I are planning a wedding, it's going to be difficult, but I think I'm up for the challenge. So here it is: my New year's resolutions for 2014:
1) Pray more. Meditation/prayer/quiet time are good for reflecting, for being honest with yourself, and for centering/focusing on the important things.
2) Write more. Along the same lines as praying, writing is an outlet. It's good to give that voice inside a chance to talk.
3) MS-150...I missed doing it last year, and while I had other things happening, it would be good to get back into the swing of this. It also is good for clearing the head.
4) More workshop time. This is a must, for many reasons.
That's it. those are the four changes I need to make. Of course, it means some sacrifices in other areas of life, but that's ok. I expect that there will still be times when I put off some of these to do things with/for others. But I also need to get better at remembering to take the time for ME. Because if I'm not in good shape, I won't be able to do things for others at all.
So what do you need to do for YOU to make life better in 2014?
Thanks for Reading,
The Fat Kid
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