Silly New Year’s Resolution #3

Cut down on exercise. Too much is bad for your health, it can even kill you.

If Our Pets Made Our New Year’s Resolutions

Lisa Spector

While people have been making their own new year’s resolutions, I decided to let my dogs, Sanchez and Gina, make mine for me. Here’s what they had to say:

Take more walks (with us)
Spend more time at the piano (We love sleeping under it while you play.)
Take more breaks from the computer
Remember to play (especially with us)
Make more dog treats for us
Brag about us every day
Perform more concerts for dogs
Be patient with me in my senior years (from Sanchez). I’m giving you an opportunity to slow down and remember that every moment in life is a gift.
More agility training PLEASE (from Gina)
Help more homeless dogs

If your pets made your new year’s resolutions, what would they say?

HELLO WORLD!!!! A Glorious & Blessed Friday To All My Dear Family & Friends!

Gothic Comments
Oh, what a beautiful, beautiful day it is here? The sun is shining brightly, not a cloudy in the sky, looks like a perfect day to go run in the field. Till you look at the temperature gauge out the window, it is just 22 degrees out there, golly gee! I had some errands to run yesterday that is why the Countess filled in. It was suppose to be about 28 degrees yesterday. I had on a tee shirt and a sweater and it felt fine to me. I know Kiki loved it to pieces. She has her own little bed in the truck (not spoiled at all). When she gets in the first thing she does is rut around in the bed like a little baby pig. I guess she thinks there has been somebody sleeping in her bed!

Well can you believe it, the first week of the New Year is almost over. Before you know it, we will be saying goodbye to 2013 and hello to 2014. Really I hope not. I have made one New Year’s Resolution this year, it is to stop and smell the Roses. I mean really smell them. You know sniff in all the pollen and everything, lol! I guess I took something away from last year, never, ever take any minute we have in life for granted. Every little second is precious, oh, so precious. I have learned the meaning of “I’m going to seize the day!” I use to scratch my head at that one. Now I know, get up in the morning and live the day like it was your last one. I also learned something else, cherish your memories and hold your loved ones in your heart always. For as long as they live in your heart, they are never truly gone.

Before I take down the New Year graphics, I have one last blessing for the New Year. I wish everyone of you a very Happy & Blessed New Year. A New Year full of love, family, joy, comfort and most of all peace. Peace to you my family and Peace to the entire World.

Goddess Bless You,
Love,

Lady A

Oh, Great & Glorious Mother,

At the start

Of this New Year

When thoughts turn again

To beginnings

Starting afresh

New leave

And turning skeletons

Free from cupboards

Be with us

As we gaze into the distance

Of fresh mission grounds

Of hopes and dreams

Opportunities for service

Challenges

And uncertainties

Take our fears

And turn them into strengths

Take our lack of faith

And empower us

Though thy very Spirit

Who breathes life into this world

Whose presence is reflected

In the icy chill

Of winter’s breath

As well as the comforting warmth

Of a summer breeze.

Walk with us into this New Year

Of opportunity and growth.

So Mote It Be!

Your Horoscope New Year’s Resolutions

Annie B. Bond

‘Tis the season to make New Year resolutions–and to break them just as quickly, at least partly because the very language of most resolutions (“I will lose weight! I will stop smoking!”) is punitive and belittling to the soul. But our horoscope sun-sign can point the way to a life-affirming resolution your spirit can really get behind.

These resolutions speak a powerful, positive language that our spiritual selves respond to, in accordance with what is best in us, and working hand in hand with our deeper purpose in life. Find out the affirming resolution for your sun-sign, here:

Aries, March 21-April 19: I will allow my courage to blaze new trails in my life.

Taurus, April 20-May 21: I will focus on my inner garden, growing what I truly need.

Gemini, May 22-June 20: I will share my ideas with ease, finding playmates of the spirit with every word I speak.

Cancer, June 21-July 22: I will trust that my sensitive heart is continually nourished by pleasant memories and creativity.

Leo, July 23- Aug 22: I will know that my vital imagination is the fiery force that can change my life for the better.

Virgo, Aug 23-Sept 22: I will give thought to the messages of healing my body is sending me, and the ways I can give my body what it needs.

Libra, Sept 23-Oct 22: I will create something beautiful today out of my deep love for Beauty.

Scorpio, Oct 23-Nov 21: I will rise up again and again, filled with the power of renewal.

Sagittarius, Nov 22-Dec 21: I will speak the ideals of my heart clearly and with compassion for my self and others.

Capricorn, Dec 22-Jan 19: I will begin behaving as if my most important responsibility is to express my true nature.

Aquarius, Jan 20-Feb 18: I will be open to fresh new ideas that help me strengthen the bonds of community.

Pisces, Feb 19-March 20: I will believe that my deep intuition is a benefit to all my relations.

6 Ways to Make Resolutions that Stick

Dr. Tamar Chansky

January is a complicated month. At first blush, it’s like new love. There’s that wonderful, wind-beneath-your-wings feeling, that promise of a fresh start, a whole new you, an open door to the possibility that everything will be different (perfect) this time. But faster than you can say, “I’m going to renew my gym membership and go every single day!” along comes the other side of January: the bully.

This is the part that shows you the failure, the anticipated crash, the thud, the utter disappointment with yourself as all those good intentions that got your engines started in the first place run out of steam in unglorious and predictable ways. It’s the part that says, make a resolution; I dare you.

Fortunately, January is not the problem. It’s us. Well, our perfectionism, to be specific. Our all-or-none thinking frames our life so that if we’re not succeeding every second, we’re failing. Nobody wants that. But nobody can be that “perfect” person either. Many of us decide that because we break most of our resolutions, we will take the hall pass this year and skip any resolution making at all.

But let’s be clear about what we are missing when we don’t set goals. We aren’t preventing ourselves from failing. We’re keeping ourselves from growing.

Setting goals raises us up from our ground level vantage point and gives us access to a privileged view of ourselves. Rather than being a passive participant reacting to life on autopilot, by setting goals we can imagine different paths, question if where we are headed is where we want to go, and in general take charge of our lives. This may be big questions about the direction we’re taking or, on a smaller scale, fine-tuning the details, or looking for more balance, fulfillment and health in daily life.

So, set some goals, take the opportunity to run your life instead of having your life run you. But to stay in the game and on your feet, don’t let perfectionism be your referee. You call the shots. Aim for sustainable change, not perfection. Lasting change takes time, and you are worth the investment. Your goals and aspirations are worth your persistence. Perfectionism doesn’t understand this, but you can.

Here are six ideas to give your resolutions more staying power.

1. No job is too small.

Lofty are we when making New Years’ resolutions — the bigger, the better. We want the big-splash resolutions, but those life-altering plans are often impossibly impractical, at least in one go. Think smaller. Do you want to have one more meal each week with your family? Do you want to have a gratitude-sharing with your family each week? Do you want to apologize faster, be more kind to strangers — or people you know? We don’t need the goals that would make our lives discontinuous or unrecognizable to our current selves — we want the actions that will make our lives better.

2. Work with your natural laziness: Set up your supplies in advance.

Failure and procrastination happen most often when the supplies we need to get the job done require us to actually stand up and do something (think about how we’ll suffer through a bad movie because the remote is across the room). Improve your chances of success by making things easier on yourself: Get your supplies ready in advance (e.g., grab the remote before you sit down). Prevent that last-minute avoidance/apathy phenomenon from getting in your way. Want to start going to the gym in the next couple of weeks? Get your bag together and put it in your car. Want to start bringing lunch to work? Make it the night before. Want to save money each month? Set up auto-withdrawal.

3. Think short-term.

Why don’t you plan your menus for the next 12 months? Or your outfits? So why are we planning our other goals for such a big chunk of time and then get upset when we can’t sustain it? Try to make a goal for each month, rather than for the year. This way you can make modifications in response to how you’re actually performing on the goal.

4. Give it time.

It takes a good three weeks to establish a new habit or pattern. That’s what researchers tell us. So, especially in the early weeks of a goal, expect that your adherence will experience some ups and downs. Hang in. Habit strength awaits you on the other side of that first launching phase. Build in room for slips, hiccups, and setbacks. If you expect that this is part of the process, you won’t misinterpret your slip ups and invent reasons to give up. You’ll think instead: Right, Momma said there’d be days like this; and try again tomorrow.

5. Think community.

Me, me, me, me. We all get sick of the focus on ourselves — our appearance, our eating habits, our weight. All good things, but expanding the focus beyond ourselves is likely to garner a much more appreciative audience than we can be for ourselves. Community may mean volunteering your time, but it also may be something that requires no planning — being patient and kind in your interactions at work, challenging yourself to see the best in others, doing something each week “just because.” Imagine if we all resolved to do this at the same time.

6. Raise the barn, together.

We are isolated in our desire to change ourselves. And when we fail, resolutions tend to be a source of private humiliation. Hey if we’re all in the same boat, let’s support each other in staying afloat. You can find a gym buddy or a job-hunting buddy if someone is going through similar challenges, but you don’t have to be working toward the same goal. Find a buddy who you’ll write to each week to update on your progress, and they’ll do the same. This will also be the person who will give you the pep talk when you slip up and say no big deal, keep going. (We all need that person).

One last thought. This year, as you approach the question of resolutions, rather than feeling like you’re starting from scratch and that you’re nothing without those changes, see that the better you that you’re looking for is already there. Make the bold move to see resolutions not so much as ways to overhaul your life, but rather as opportunities to free yourself up to locate the best version of who you already are. Cheers to overcoming the obstacles that get in the way of seeing and being that best self. Happy New Year, all!

Why Most New Year’s Resolutions Are Guaranteed to Fail

Robert Pagliarini

Nearly all of us make the same mistake when it comes to New Year’s resolutions, one that practically guarantees we’ll fail miserably. Sadly, it’s not just New Year’s resolutions that we blow. Anytime we try to change our behavior, we make the same disastrous mistake. No mas! In the next two minutes, you’ll learn a strategy that you can use to reach any goal or to change any habit. Even the biggest goals, like stopping smoking and getting out of debt, are achievable with this approach.

So, what’s this huge mistake we make when we set goals or try to change a bad habit? We expect to succeed. We have no contingency plan when we fail. When we inevitably come up short — the stats are bleak when it comes to sticking with New Year’s resolutions — we have nothing to do but revert to our old behavior. “Oh well, I lasted three days longer than last year!” you’ll start to hear this week.

Your biggest goals require the biggest changes, the greatest commitments, the most effort and willpower. Those pounds aren’t going to lose themselves; your debt isn’t going away on its own; and the business you want to run isn’t going to start itself. These are massive undertakings that require a great deal of personal fortitude. The effort required to succeed can seem overwhelming, so much so that you might relent. You ditch your diet and eat the brownie. You forgo your budget and buy the shoes. You talk yourself out of business ownership and turn on the TV.

The good news is that one misstep doesn’t have to derail you if you use the One Day, One Week, One Month Strategy. I’ve used this same approach to create radical change in my life and I’ve shown others how to use it effectively. Here’s what you do:

One Day
It doesn’t matter that the book you want to write will take you two years and lots of late nights to complete. It doesn’t matter that the 50 pounds you need to lose will take 12 months of sweat and sacrifice to drop. The hard work? The long hours? None of it matters. The only thing you should focus on is one day. That’s it. Surely you can stick to a diet for one day, right? Of course you can follow your budget for one day. It’s just one day. Get over your excuses. Get over the anxiety. You can do anything for a day.

One Week
If you survive the first day — and you will — all you need to do is focus on surviving six more days. That’s it. You can do anything for a week, and you’ve already made it through the first day.

One Month
Congratulations! You made it a week. The desire to revert back to old behaviors is strong, but you’ve already gone a whole week. What’s another couple of weeks to make it a month? If at the end of the month you decide it’s not worth it, tell yourself you’ll stop, but give yourself a month.

What happens if you falter? As the old saying goes, if you fall down one step, don’t throw yourself down the whole staircase. If on day four you completely blow it, you simply start over. The next morning, you only focus on getting through one day. Then you take another shot at getting through a week, and you will because it will be much easier the second time. If on week three you crack. No problem. The next morning you simply focus on getting through one day. Then one week. Then take another run at one month. You can do this over and over and over again until you succeed.

And when it comes to New Year’s resolutions, you just may need to try a few times before you succeed.

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