Reasonable Resolutions

Here we are once again in January, the season of new beginnings, fresh promises, sensible eating, and abundant exercising. Kinda sorta.

I have come to really embrace the human construct that is January = Fresh Start. I tend to re-read Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui, cull my closets and kitchen drawers, host a clothes swap, and create a shiny new list of good attitudes and intentions for the gym and life in general.

But I also embrace the notion that it’s a good idea to flex with the seasonal rhythms and live a little differently this time of year. It’s January – too cold and too dark to be very noble or stoic about anything. My body is still asking for generous food and extra sleep. A fresh start in the dead of winter? Sounds herculean or quixotic at best.

Yet somehow there’s enough optimism infused in a new year to pin reasonable hopes on.

Sometimes what makes the difference is knowing what feels easily do-able to me. A new vow to do an hour of yoga every morning? I’m not likely to really get behind that with any enthusiasm or commitment. A bedtime promise to myself that in the morning I’ll stumble over to the space by the window, spread my yoga mat and at least do some stretches? Not only am I extremely likely to fulfill that little promise, I’m also likely to take fifteen minutes and do a round of sun salutation and some pigeon pose. In my mind, those fifteen minutes count for a lot more than that imaginary hour.

Some resolutions dance the line between being a major reach and being do-able. They will be a bit of a stretch, but I will be so glad if I do them. Two winters ago I was spending regular time with The Life Organizer, journaling responses to her prompts and questions… in colorful markers, in a big notepad instead of a journal. I loved it. Last winter I was reading a little bit of The Way of the Happy Woman every morning. I incorporated bits of her yoga teachings and exercises into my days… and loved it.  This winter… I’m inhaling novel after novel. They are delicious, but they don’t feed me like the others did. And I miss my colorful markers. So the stretch is to find a place in my week for thoughtful reading, and then actually sit down and do it. I know I’ll be so glad when I do.

That’s the heart of it, isn’t it? Achieving any resolution, any healthy habit, any goal… requires believing deeply enough that you’ll be glad afterwards that you overcome the inertia or lethargy or fear or whatever and do it. And that’s tough when the bed is warm, the thermometer says 23, and you promised yourself you’d go running in the morning. For me it took years before I finally deeply learned that I am always glad that I went running. Always. Will it take 365 days of sitting quietly spread over three years before I really learn that taking time for meaningful reading and journaling is a wise investment? Probably.

I’ve learned to hold my resolutions loosely as I heap compassion on myself (also a learned behavior). The Resolution Police aren’t coming around in March to check up on everyone. It’s more about believing that I will look back two or three years from now and realize that the shape of me and my life are different than they were in December 2012. Good job, she will say. Nice effort. Gold star on that stumbling to the yoga mat thing!