New Year's Resolutions

January is almost over! How are your New Year's Resolution's going? Many people start out with good intentions and then lose steam as the month progresses. Thei wonderful goals they set to change unhealthy habits and to live a more meaningful life begin to fizzle and they give up and go back to the status quo. Life is meant to be an adventure, not just going through the motions. I love the movie, "GroundHog Day" with Bill Murray. In this movie, he is reliving one of his most dreaded days as a weatherman, having to cover GroundHog Day in Punxsutawney, Pennslyvania. The day doesn't end until he learns to embrace life and love. At first he escapes into hedonism and then falls into a deep depression, then he decides to make the most of the day he is living in. He becomes well-read, learns to play the piano, he does good deeds, he is loved by everyone in the town and eventually he wins the heart of a kind and decent woman. It is when he learns self-sacrifical love that the day is over and a new day starts.

Every day is another opportunity to live the life we desire. There is a saying "misery will find you, but you must find happiness." We need to be intentional about our lives or we will end up living the same day over and over again. It takes 30 days to change a habit, which means we need to consistently do the new behavior for it to take hold. Habits get established in our sub-conscious so that we don't have to think about them, instead we just do them. This can be good or bad. If I have a bad habit of eating too much junk food, I will gain weight and risk health problems. If I have a habit of eating a balanced diet and not overeating, I will be arrive at the right weight and will keep away health problems.

Typically bad habits are formed as a coping mechanism to deal with life's stressors. We find substitute comfort in our "little addictions" which can grow if we give in to them. Too much TV, video games, alcohol, food, shopping, work, etc. The comfort we sought now is causing more problems rather than relieving our stress. Be intentional about your life, pursue happiness, go after your heart's desires. The key is to do it one day at a time. Set a goal, and take small steps daily to acheive it. If you do this consistently, before you know it you will have changed a bad habit into a life-giving habit. If you have a bad day, just start over the next! If you have life stressors that are bringing you down, seek out help and support, so that they don't sabatoge you from pursuing a meaningful life.