New Year's Resolutions

My chosen picture really doesn't have anything to do with the topic of this post but I like to add a picture for interest's sake.  Mind you, I could talk about how this fall I have felt like hibernating and introverting and going inwards.  And after every hibernation or introspection comes a period of awakening or extroversion.  I'd like to think that I am entering that phase.  We will see.  Also, everytime January 1st rolls around, I find myself making resolutions.  I make many resolutions.  I say to myself that this is the year that I am going to lose weight, quit smoking, pay closer attention to my finances, do the nice things that I have an initial impulse for, etc, etc, etc.  I rarely make the progress that I hope to.  And this year I find myself saying the same things again but this time I really really mean it.  But seriously!  I do hope to accomplish the things I set out for myself but I realize, as they say in AA, "Progress not perfection."  The beginning of the year highlights a chance for a fresh start and renewed enthusiasm.  In the fall we are finishing up with things.  We get ready for the winter and cold weather.  By January, winter is well on the way.  We have passed the Winter Solstice and the days are once again getting longer.  Eventually spring will arrive and those new beginnings we dream about in January actually begin to come to fruition.  That is the ideal.

          "If there is not wind, row."  - Latin Proverb

"If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door."  - Milton Berle

"Things come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle."  - Abraham Lincoln

One of the concepts that I am going to work on in 2011 is the idea that I must aggressively go after what I want.  Of course the challenge is to define what I want.  Another idea that I want to explore is that life is a process.  We never "arrive".  Everything is in constant flux.  Life is a flow.  It is a river, ever changing, ever moving.  This removes the idea that I can be happy when I complete my yoga training or I can be happy when I have plenty of money in the bank.  The point is that to become a yoga teacher, I must go through many steps and the challenge becomes to enjoy the process.  Plan for the future but live in the present.  Be mindful of the present moment.  One day at a time.  So my aim each day from this day forward is to look at my day, say this is what I have to do today and then enjoy the day as best I can.  And that is my wish for all of you.