Sunday thoughts:
Rather than a resolution, for the past decade I’ve instead assigned each year a theme word, in which I chose to mindfully apply my actions to.
Some of my words – Balance, Spontaneity, Adventure, Achievement, Organization, the list goes on.
I chose Resiliency the year I decided to double up on credits whilst working 2 jobs, planning a volunteer mission abroad, applying to dental schools, and knocking out the DAT.
I chose Health my final year of undergrad, and got into the best shape of my life.
Some years were easier to follow than others, and some where more successful than others.
This year I did not assign a theme for my resolution, instead I have wanted to see what the year assigned to me – and I’m seeing now that it is the year of Permanency.
I think the time has finally come that I am sick of governing my life based on temporary items, people, and expectations.
Permanency
For a few moments, I thought Self Growth identified my theme this year. The more I thought about it though, I realized growth is really a theme of every year that I’ve done this.
And as I continued to ponder the past, and about all the ways I have grown over the years, I realized that I’ve also seen my fair share of decline nearly immediately following those peaks. It became more apparent that another underlying theme was continuously present as well, and one that I’m a little peeved about, quite frankly. That theme? Temporary.
Whether or not I satisfied my theme word for the year, I’ve tended to only maintain focus on it for that long. Some habits slipped, some habits stayed… but if I didn’t make it a priority it was harder to innately remain one.
Even if unrelated to theme, I’ve noticed that many (not all, but many) of the things I’ve funneled time, money, and emotion into over the years have been of little permanent value.
I buy furniture because it’s cheap, and unapologetically so when considering I’m lucky to even have money to spend on furniture at times.
I’ve been through a small dealership’s-worth of shitty cars that cost more emotion than they could have been worth in dollars. I have disgusted myself many times over on the clothes I’ve purchased while trying to fit in with uncomfortable crowds. Not to mention the clothes which now line the shelves of garage-sale goers closets and Good-Will racks, and are items that I now understand were questionably manufactured and unsustainable. Aside from not feeding my personal comfort and style, they fed temporary urge and the pocket book of shady fashion empires.
I could talk for days about the unsustainable diets I’ve been on, all the pyramid scheme (“multi level marketing”) ploys I’ve become entangled in, and all the sups and stacks promised me fast weight loss and the body of a fitness model, but actually made my hair fall out and gave me Hanger issues.
Finally, maybe most importantly exposed is my frank waste of emotion and time. Lately, I’ve felt the need to be very frugal with my time and emotional currency spent on people who do not make me feel whole – which I think says a lot about what my body and mind is begging for subconsciously.
So I’ve taken the hint. I am no longer interested in Temporary,
I am here for the Permanent.
How, may you ask, am I doing this?
The short:
Conscious consideration of my worldly contribution, and honoring feelings of discomfort as my guide to bettering myself.
The long:
Well, lets dig in.
Here are my goals :
Conscious implementation of sustainable physical, social, and monetary contributions to the world, and honoring my conscience in all decisions.
Physical: Consume nutritious foods, move daily, dress the to feel good, choose only what feels good.
Social: Use your voice to be an advocate of your own opinion, stop expecting the world to speak up for you or possess the same opinion as you, disengage toxic relationships, feed healthy relationships, balance solitude and solidarity.
Monetary: Spend money on quality items, shop locally owned and homemade over corporate when possible, be aware of ethically marketed and produced goods, shop sustainably not wastefully.
Conscience: Understand that the conscience isn’t just a dictation of right or wrong, but also a guide to your daily actions. Be mindful of the voice that warns you of people you interact with, and honor it’s guidance in all tasks.
I’m going to continue this topic in a series of blogs about each of the topics above.
Stay tuned to dive into each topic more thoroughly, as I explain my thoughts and make progress toward permanently implementing each into my life – as well as how you can join along in implementing them into your daily life as well!
May your Sunday be sweet and Monday be short.
Always happy to have you here.
-Sara
