New Year, New Opportunities to be Mindful

 

Mindfulness teaches us to accept the present, as it is, not as we want it to be. I feel that mindfulness can teach us that we can accept the fact that we:

a. set new years resolutions and promptly abandon them

b. just don't set them because we are self-aware enough to know, it's not going to happen

c. we make them and we make an effort to try and keep them...and before June give them up

The concept of a New Year's Resolution can be traced back to ancient Babylon and ancient Rome. It would seem that it is built into human nature to want to look at the past and try to make a better future.

Studies show that 80% of those who set a new year resolutions will abandoned it by the second week in February. 

In an article published January 3, 2022, Bill Gates talked about how he does not set new year resolutions. This article reflected back on an interview with Bill's former wife Melinda. In the 2016 article Melinda Gates shared that she does not set resolutions but rather picks a focus word for the new year. She shared that she believes a single word "instead of promoting radical change in behavior, it encourages a gradual change in mindset."

Melinda's word in 2016 was; Gentle. She shared that she wanted to be gentler with others, as well as with herself.

The article also shared that Bill asks himself a set of questions for each  new year. Questions about how well he felt the previous year went, how much he accomplished, what he can make better, etc.

Clinical Psychologist Joseph J. Luciani agrees with Bill and Melinda Gates and how they look at a new year. Luciani states; "Grandiose goals and result-oriented mindsets are much harder to achieve than small success and process oriented mindsets."

Luciani also shares; " You are not born with self-discipline, you acquire it. Like a muscle, you need to develop your self-discipline muscle, one challenge at a time."

I have been reading word after word after word, trying to find the right one for 2022.

I might barrow from Melinda and utilize Gentle. I feel a connection with this idea for the year. I also like the word Resilient. 

This year, if you could pick one word to focus on, what would it be?