Soon we will have completed our annual list of good intentions. Across the country there are millions of cigarettes waiting to be stomped out, tons of fat waiting to be lost, miles to be run, lives to be organized, selves to be improved.
Once again, we will pass resolutions as if we were our own Congress, legislating changes in our lives. On a million scraps of paper, we will publish an updated catalog of promises to be filed on the shelf of the self....
But I have a feeling that our resolutions have more to do with controlling our lives than enriching them....
We spend Jan. 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a punch list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. We decide that it's time to get a painful grip on ourselves....
But life improvement is not just a matter of discipline, self-control. It's a matter of expansion, the deliberate pursuit of happiness....
We ought to walk through the rooms of our lives a second time, not looking for the flaws, but for potential.
Once again, we will pass resolutions as if we were our own Congress, legislating changes in our lives. On a million scraps of paper, we will publish an updated catalog of promises to be filed on the shelf of the self....
But I have a feeling that our resolutions have more to do with controlling our lives than enriching them....
We spend Jan. 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a punch list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. We decide that it's time to get a painful grip on ourselves....
But life improvement is not just a matter of discipline, self-control. It's a matter of expansion, the deliberate pursuit of happiness....
We ought to walk through the rooms of our lives a second time, not looking for the flaws, but for potential.
Ellen Goodman, The Boston Globe, December 1982
This article was perfect for those of us who make resolutions or not!
ReplyDeleteI am going to do the same thing...walk throughout my home and think about my life and look for the good. The positive. Be grateful and change only what is absolutely necessary.
Thank you Mary 💮
I thought this was perfect. Too many of us look for flaws and miss the potential.
DeleteLooking for potential, not flaws -- I like this!!!
ReplyDeleteA very good Saturday thought - and I like the picture you've used.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
Yes, resolutions are all about what's wrong with us. What about the good?
DeleteA lovely thought. And how nice to start the new year not beating ourselves up.
ReplyDeleteThis is going to be a healing year for me. I just know it is.
DeletePotentail we all have them. I know I can loose more pounds in 2019, simple because I lost not quite 15 pounds.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on
Yes, indeed, we do. I took off 53 pounds through WW, hit goal, and then towards the end of this year began sabotaging all the good I had done. I know I have the potential, just have to begin using it again.
DeleteI like this alot! Big Hugs!
ReplyDelete