Small Change

I’m reconsidering small, lately, and applying it to 2015. While planning my New Year’s Resolutions, I’m thinking I’ll make them small. And by that I mean approaching them in small steps.

I love the New Year…starting fresh and putting the best foot forward. It’s exhilarating! Yet, the statistic is, most of us have forgotten our resolutions by February, and so I make it a point to at least reread them, quarterly. While I haven’t become a brilliant chess player, or learned all of the foreign swear words I’d planned to, I would revisit these things in the drag of summer, or beginning of fall to remind myself what I want to accomplish. I’d start my practice, but inevitably, they would fade into the background again. I think the real trick is to practice small, and daily.

Weight loss, for example, (the number one resolution); Why do we discuss this in terms of “when”? We say, “I’ll start my diet on the first” or “on Monday”. And whenever we fall off the wagon, we choose another start date or day. Why not right this minute? If we over-ate at breakfast, why do we consider it’s a loss and throw the baby out with the bathwater? Resolve that at lunchtime, you will have a healthy meal in smaller portions, every meal an opportunity to make positive decisions and to be proud of yourself, and when you’re proud of yourself, you’re empowered!  Daily, we can resolve to reset, then each night we can celebrate our awesomeness with, say, an earlier bedtime, or good book (more sleep and more reading…both excellent resolutions!). There’s a reason “One Day At A Time” is such a popular saying…it’s really the only way to live, because it’s simply what we have…right now! And our biggest anxieties occur when we are dwelling on the past, or fretting about the future.

Come in to Ducky Shincrackers and post your resolutions on Ducky’s 10 Best board, and Make & Take a little “Messages in a Bottle”, courtesy of the shop.

Welcome, sweet Baby New Year! Let’s be kind to each other!