Waking up this morning, I see the blue sky.
I join my hands in thanks for the many wonders of life;
for having 24 new hours before me.
Thich Nhat Hanh
New Year's Day would be a good time to be a Buddhist. Buddhists live each day as it comes and as a Buddhist teacher once said, "Before Enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After Enlightenment, chop wood, carry water." With that philosophy toward life, it would seem unnecessary for Buddhists to make New Year's resolutions. From a look around the web, it appears that some Buddhists, like Lori Deschene at Tiny Buddha share my opinion about resolutions. (Buddha, photograph by D. Sharon Pruitt)
Lori Deschene says that what we should aim for is increasing the happiness to unhappiness ratio in our lives, rather than making lists of resolutions that we don't keep and that only serve to make us feel guilty. That sounds good to me. Resolve, on the other hand, means to "make up one's mind" or to "decide firmly." Resolutions make me think of long, dull meetings where people resolve things. Resolutions make me think of words like: should, ought, must, have to, etc. When I think of these sorts of words, other words come to mind like: don't want to, fail, shame, chore. Well, I'm sure you get the picture. People who are processing grief and trauma are already burdened with too many shoulds. Shoulds, like "get over it" or "move on." I don't know about you, but I can picture the frowning face and hear a disapproving voice saying, "It's been ___ years (insert your own time frame here) and you're still (insert your own adjective here.)"
No, I much prefer thinking about things I would like to do or hope to do in the coming year. So here goes my New Year's hope list. I hope to:
- Keep singing
- Keep blogging
- Enjoy walks in rain and sun and wind and daylight and starlight
- Spend time with people I love and people I would like to love
- Practice kindness to myself and others
- Cut myself and everyone around me as much slack as they need
- Be grateful for what I have and say thank you often
Any more items, and even if I say it isn't a New Year's resolution list, it will start to feel like one. Some people have gone further than me and make gratitude lists on New Year's day, rather than resolution lists. Sounds good to me. I hope to begin a gratitude journal this year, but if I don't, I can still be grateful and I don't have to "punish" myself for not writing down what I'm grateful for. Singer-songwriter Carrie Newcomer, who I have had the privilege of seeing perform twice in Bloomington, Indiana, has a song that I thought was appropriate to the idea of gratitude lists rather than resolutions. It isn't about resolutions, as such, but it's definitely about hope and the ordinary/extraordinary beauty of our everyday lives. As Newcomer sings, "Would it be so wrong/could it be that bad/to hope for a little more happy than sad?"
Best wishes for 2012
