Resolutions, Intentions, or Maybe Just Some Rough Ideas

Sun-setting over the Nile in Aswan, Egypt.

Sunrise above Mount Sinai, Egypt.

As 2010 draws to a close and 2011 beckons, I'm sure many of us are thinking about all the many things we'll do, or do better, or not do at all next year.  I'm wishy washy about resolutions.  I think sometimes, they can set us up for failure. I like the idea of setting intentions better.  To me, the word intention implies you may not always live up to it perfectly, but you can always go back to it.

I'm thinking of a few myself for the year ahead. Each year since college, I have gone through a little ritual on New Year's Eve that helps me think about my intentions.  On one piece of paper, I write down words or ideas from this past year that I would like to let go of and say 'good riddance.' On another, I write down words and ideas that I would like to cultivate and embrace in the coming year.  I rip up the piece of paper with everything I want to say good-bye to, and then I fold up the paper with my intentions for the year ahead and sleep with it under my pillow.  It's my little symbolic way of drawing a line in the sand and focusing on myself on what is in front of me, regardless of what has happened in the past.

Do you all have any New Year's rituals or thoughts about resolutions?  How has your RA impacted them (or not?).

However you spend the closing of 2010 and the dawning of 2011, may each of you be safe, healthy, happy and content!

xoxo

 

Comments

[Kelli]

LOVE IT!!! I love your approach with intentions vs resolutions. Just what I needed to start my year off right, THANKS!

[sandy]

Love your posts! They help me get through the rough patches, which fortunately, aren't too frequent :)

[Amy]

Your posts are great. They are so refreshingly authentic --- thanks so much. It is so hard to deal with this problem on a daily basis and I admire your strength.. Love the photo of Aswan, too. Did you travel there? I went to egypt when I was 19 and loved it soooooo much, especially Aswan. I promised myself that I'd go back, but with this crappy health I feel the trip would be a waste as I'd need too much sleep ad be too restricted in what I could do. Let's hope for the wonder drug so that the trip cOuld happen someday...! Best wishes for a healthy 2011.

[Helen]

I LOVE that idea! I do something similar, but I've never tried writing it down - maybe I'll try that this year.

I also don't like making concrete resolutions, but instead focus on the emotions, knowledge and attitudes I want to cultivate in myself in the New Year. I've also never really thought hard about what I'd like to get rid of from the old year, but I really like that idea, too.

I'm going to give it a try. Happy New Year!