Loveliness of New Years' Resolutions

My resolutions for 2007 seem to fall into these general categories:

• Household
• Health
• Learning
• Doing
  

On this thread I wrote that my New Years' Resolutions are more like habits for the year. ... things to focus on. That way I won't be as likely to drop them at the first failure or setback.

----For my main household goal of Celebrating Abundance - I'm trying to think in terms of using what we already have, rather than getting new things. I'm not going to be a purist about this, but I am going to try to reframe my thoughts towards "using what's in my hands through faith".

-----I have a general ongoing goal concerning treating my body like a Temple of the Holy Spirit -- ie eating and sleeping and being active in a way respectful to myself as God's creation.

For this health goal, specifically, I am doing the Walk to Rivendell. What I am doing is putting a pedometer on my belt and wearing it all day, and adding up the miles in a log. Last time I did this it really made me conscious of my activity level and helped me to increase it in increments.... an extra trip upstairs! more walking with my preschoolers outside! It added up!


---My general learning goal is to re-read Charlotte Mason's Home Education and really apply it to our home life. I am really encouraged as I work through it how much her wisdom soaked into my mind and heart in earlier readings. Sure, there are many parts I didn't implement well, which is why I am reading it again, but the parts that did soak in made a significant difference in my mothering.

My specific learning goals are here.


I read a bit online about New Years' Resolutions. I like these Ten Tips for keeping them past the first month. Some of the ones that stuck in my mind were:

• Set realistic goals.
• Set goals you really care about and are invested in.
  
• Outline steps for reaching the goal.
• Celebrate the small steps towards progress.
• Don't get discouraged by setbacks.

I would just add something I've learned that's been working quite well. It helps me to meet goals if I have some multi-sensory impression of what they are, so they are not just words in my mind. If I can get an image in my mind, or sometimes a motto works, then I am more likely to remember the goal and keep persevering through the hard times. Leonie makes mottos to remind her of what she wants to focus on.

My motto for my action goal is the same as last years': "Age quod agis" or "Do what you are doing." It is a very evocative phrase for me, and I think I could go on pondering it forever. Some people translate "Age quod agis" as "Strive for the best". So maybe that's another way to think about it. The specific way I am thinking about it this year is to think: (1) HOW can I do this (whatever it happens to be)? and (2) How can I do it better?

That reminds me to take the first step -- something I often stumble at! -- and to take the next step after that. I have lots of ideals, but I need to focus on the discipline of making them into part of life. Or as St Maximilian Kolbe's puts it in his Rule of Life:

Do not permit that evil remain without reparation and destruction; or that good be without fruit or increase.