New Year’s Resolutions
It is now 2018! The first month of a brand-new year; a fresh start for many, an opportunity and a new beginning…
Every new year we all feel as if we get a chance to take a turn towards a new chapter; as if our lives were to be reset to zero and all could potentially restart or be chosen anew… However, it is not so black and white. The real truth is that time is a continuity and a flowing evolving transition of instants which all add up one onto another. This means, that the end of one year doesn’t really mean much of anything; except that it appears to be symbolic and act as an alert to wake us up to the fact that time actually is passing right by us and life is happening as we speak. So we get to wonder, what are we going to do about it? Make new resolutions?
This awareness with the end of one year and the beginning of a new one of time escaping us only to meet us back at the turn of midnight is a reminder that we must dive into the sea of opportunities and choose mindfully our path ahead while we have a chance. At this precise point, we immediately think about deciding on a few new resolutions. Things we may really want to do or accomplish in the near future; old habits we wish to break free from, new dreams we wish to embrace and exciting activities we’ve had in the back burner for a while waiting on hold to be accomplished. Usually resolutions set us to view life with a vision targeted towards the near or far future. The reality is that life and time happens in the now; with each breath and with each evolving moment happening right in-between the ‘in breath’ and the ‘out breath’; and if we are not fully conscious of it happening, that precious moment it is gone, lost time and time again, before we even get a chance to act upon our goals.
The important question is: What are resolutions? A determination to do something we really want to achieve deep from within. This positive goal-setting is very powerful and important. It means to have a plan as to where we wish to go; however, they can also give us the illusion that our choices happen somewhere away from the present moment in some future ahead of us: “next Monday I will definitely start my new healthy diet,” “next month I will learn to ski,” “next year I will study a new language…” Goals and more goals set ahead of the now… The most important truth to unveil is the fact that the only time to choose to become an active participant in achieving those goals is NOW.
The other conflict of interest in setting new year’s resolutions is that we are often focusing on the negative, on things and actions we don’t want to have or to do; for example: “I won’t drink,” I will not get mad” and so on. By so doing, we are emphasizing on the ‘negative’ rather than on the ‘positive’ action we wish to achieve. It would be much more powerful and positive to rephrase the resolution by saying: “I will drink more water and non-alcoholic drinks,” or “I will control my temper at all times.” Focusing on ‘positive affirmations’ is one of the 5 points of yoga highlighting positive thinking as a tool for transforming our lives by controlling the tapes we play through our minds.
Yoga wisely teach us to step in the now with the mindfulness and the awareness of each new breath that we take and our personal responsibility as to what is it that we will do with our freedom to do or not to do certain things in the present moment, since each evolving breath in the here and now is actually the only time when things do happen! We should always ask ourselves the following questions: If it is not ME; then WHO? If is not NOW; then WHEN? This allow us to engage in a responsible manner in the present moment and to make the right choices which will bring us closer to those very goals we wish to achieve in the only moment which matters: the “now.”
If we become active participants of our reality and how we choose to interact with our personal choices in a responsible fashion, we will be surprised to see all our goals and resolutions become very soon a reality and be materialized right in front of our lives. Thus, for this new year, set yourself the most important goal which will bring all your resolutions to fruition to become a responsible and active co-participant of your reality in this moment, with each new breath that you take: NOW!
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