Like almost everyone, I’ve read the research on new year’s resolutions – the overwhelming majority fail. So, rather than making a list of targets to achieve - on 1 January 2020, I posted a tweet, listing the way I was aiming to live in 2020.
Here’s that tweet:
And Oh Boy! Those aims got me through 2020!
This year, there have been many times I’ve felt frustrated. One frustration that raised its head a few times this year was living in an unfinished house. Just before lockdown, we were starting the process of having our house redecorated – the damage from subsidence having been finally rectified and signed off by the engineers – the prettifying was just about to begin. The reminder to live humbly and with gratitude meant that I was able to see the situation as it really was. No problem at all in the scheme of things.
The reminder to live with compassion helped me deal with my anger when I saw people ignoring social distancing and self-isolation rules to socialise. Compassion helped give me perspective on why some people find it so difficult to self-isolate, practice social distancing and mask wearing.
All my other aims helped me deal with difficult situations in various ways throughout the year and without being able to refer back to them, to be reminded of them, I may have found 2020 much more difficult.
Although I didn’t always live up to my aims, I did constantly refer back to them and whenever I strayed, they brought me back on track.
Rather than create a list of things to achieve, in 2021 I will again create a list of new year’s aims as resolutions – a Mission Statement, if you like, to help keep me on track. I won’t always succeed, but I’ll always come back to them. I know I will. I did it this year.
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