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I know it's a cliché, but I can't believe another year is gone. It went so fast!  Although New Year's is a natural time to get a fresh start, a number of years ago, I quit making resolutions. I would try to make a resolution to eat better, work out more, be more organized, etc., and it would never last. So I figured, "why bother?" But, I think it may be because I was looking at the symptom and not the cause. Maybe I would be better off trying to do something about my attitude.  So this year, instead of focusing on the "trees," I'm going to focus on the "forest," and see if that's the key. There are three things I'd like to work on. (Place your bets on how it goes.) 

 

Number 1. Realizing that the only person who can change most of what's bugging me is me. No one else can work out for me, eat healthier for me, be more patient for me, more helpful, more tolerant, expand my thinking for me, etc. I have to do it, or it doesn't get done. (Don't we all.) Maybe if I spend my time focusing on what I can control, I won't waste time on things I can't.

 

Number 2. Not spending time worrying about things I can't control. (I know…kind of an extension on the first!) There are some things you can do something about and some things you can't. I tend to obsess about both evenly. This makes no sense. If you can do something about it, do it, and quit worrying, and if you can't do anything about it, what good does worrying do? My friend Kristin told me her grandmother used to say, "Worrying is like a rocking chair. It feels good at the time, but doesn't get you anywhere." That's one I'm going to try to make part of my way of thinking. I think it will be a huge struggle for me, as I tend to be high strung, but worth it if I can make some progress.

 

Number 3. Be consciously grateful. I'm extremely grateful for so many things in my life, but I don't think I'm ever as grateful as I could be, and as I should be. There are people who live in the horrors of war every day. I do not. There are people who were born in circumstances that gave them no options and no freedom to choose. I did not. There are people who don't have their health. I do. The list goes on and on. To spend time focusing on the negative (what I don't have) only brings more negative. To spend time acknowledging the good things brings you more good things. And even if it didn't, it fills up your mind's eye with the good you already have, so it seems bigger.