JULY 2ND marked the very middle of 2014.
Yep, as scary as that sounds, we’re halfway through the year already. My first thought when I learned this fact was: How am I doing on my New Year’s resolutions? (My second thought was Shouldn’t there be a party for this?)
I used to refuse to make New Year’s resolutions for several reasons, the main one being I thought it was pretty silly to pick one particular day to restart or change my life when, really, I could choose any time, any day. Except I kept forgetting to pick that day. So, three years ago on New Year’s Eve, I sat down for an hour in front of a fire in Portugal and wrote out six resolutions on a Post-it note. Even though I was on vacation, I had recently had emergency surgery, was traveling and feeling alone, and I was deeply unhappy overall. When I wrote down those resolutions I felt some control over the path of my life again. When I got home and back into my stressful daily routines, the Post-it ended up getting shoved into a notebook and I forgot about it. Just about six months later I opened the notebook and found my list. To my surprise, I had achieved four of the six items on the list. I felt like at least some of that success was based on organizing my goals for the year and writing them out. So I did it again the next year and I achieved all six.
Keeping with tradition, I made another list this year. Also keeping with tradition, I forgot about it until recently. When I learned that July 2nd was the halfway point for 2014, I told myself I would look at the list that day. Six resolutions stared back at me:
1. Be how and where I am happy.
2. Have purpose and stability.
3. No credit cards.
4. Publish.
5. Be better and more for the people I love.
6. Be kinder to myself.
These are the least specific resolutions I have ever written. In previous years they included things like, “Travel to Europe” and “Save x amount of dollars.” This year I went with big ideas in the hopes of making similarly-sized changes. The only one I am confident in saying I have accomplished is number 3. The other five could still use some work.
As we head into the second part of the year, it isn’t a bad idea to check in on our goals, our achievements, and maybe even our failures. When I look at my six resolutions, I know that all of them have, at the very least, been in the back of my mind for the last six months. We live in an age where more and more people are starting to think along the lines of “You are what you think,” not what you do or say. Our thinking guides our actions and our actions become our lives. Meditation, yoga, and positive affirmations are on the upswing because we’re more stressed out and plugged-in than ever. These practices help us unwind and unplug and thank goodness. We friggin’ need it.
Resolutions are sort of like positive affirmations — the more you repeat them, the more they start to take shape and become you. I am hopeful that six months from now, when it’s January 1st, I can look back on my list and feel like I accomplished all six resolutions.
Happy Halfway to the New Year, guys. Hope you make the best of the second part of 2014.
Image Credit: junussyndicate/deviantART
