I've never been much for new year's resolutions. Choosing the first day of a year to vow that I'll quit eating so many sweets or get my butt to the gym more often seems somewhat implausible to me. (That's what birthdays are for!) Instead of resolutions, I'm making a list of intentions for 2012.
There are a few aspects of my life that I'm going to try to improve this year, whether I call them resolutions of not — more trips to the gym, becoming more active in my condo association, just saying no to that second scotch on the rocks. Those things are more like goals ... goals I set for myself just about every month of the year anyway.
Resolutions can be quickly forgotten and make me feel like a failure, while intentions are flexible and easier to maintain. By setting intentions for 2012 rather than resolutions I am shifting my focus from the negatives of life to the positive.
Intentions for 2012
• Play nice. Just as the sign in the photo above says, I'm going to play nice. With strangers and friends alike, I'm going up the kindness quotient.
• See the silver lining even on the cloudiest days. It's easy to take each knock that life hands me as a deep devastation. Often times we can actually look back on those events and see that something good came out of it. I plan to jump ahead and start looking for that silver lining from the outset.
• Take my eye off what I lack. Some days it can feel like my full attention is focused on finding ways to obtain or make up for what I lack. When, really, I should shift my attention to what I already have.
• Live to create and create to live. Whether it's dinner, a kick-ass blog post or a craft project, I find that I'm happiest when I'm doing something. For the next year I intend to create more - for myself and for others.
• Open the door so opportunity doesn't need to knock. This year I intend to let opportunity waltz right in the door all on its own – don't bother to knock! I'm going to open myself up to new possibilities and continue to put my intentions out in the universe.
So, yeah, sorry if I got all schmaltz-y on you — blame it on the near daily intake of cookies, champagne and candy canes I've consumed over the past two weeks. I guess what I should really be intending is a big detox!
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Thank you for clearing it up for me....a list of intentions is perfect.
Love the ideas.....Happy 2012!
So happy to see my artwork on here, and associated with such a positive article. These are a lot of my resolutions as well :)
Should say intentions :)
I've set two goals, to climb a 14,000ft. mountain and to sell something that I've made (either an article or a piece of jewelry). I think I'll also set the intention to flirt more and enjoy being single, because this whole "form an intense attachment to someone who is emotionally unavailable" thing I've been trying isn't working too well.
@John W. Golden-- fantastic!! And I was just going ask if anyone had a source for that!
Those are awesome intentions...love it!
Love the intentions! I got inspiration to frame my 2012 goal from an idea I saw on apartment therapy (http://thnxpinterest.com) - thnx for the great ideas!
Love your intentions, maybe I sould also try them out. In 2012, I want to get more active in general. I tend to work a lot, coming home late und spend hours on the couch surfing the web instead of actually doing something. My idea is to take a book everytime I go by train to work instead of feeling bored. Every night, I set the kitchen timer to 15 minutes to do something for my pad. Yesterday I decluttered a drawer that was crowded for months in around 5 minutes, and mopped the kitchen floor AND painted a small wall on scratch.
Tonight I will declutter another drawer, yay! I also would like open the door so opportunity doesn't need to knock, I need inspiration and new power!
Nice list!
My intention is to make someone smile everyday... even if it is only myself :D
I'm considering my New Year's intention an experiment - sounds so much nicer than "diet." :) And not so much "diet" as a determination to stop drinking soda. Soooo bad for you!
I love the poster! I would love one for my art room.