As we bring in the New Year, most people make New Year’s resolutions but regret later for making them or ignore them totally. Well, this year will be different for me. I made an attainable resolution and encouraged my family to do the same. Oh, and to have just one.
My family’s resolutions are:
1) Be more positive – Me
2) Be less stressed – my hubby
3) Manage time more efficiently – my son
4) Read more books – my daughter
I took on a challenge to be more positive. My family and friends might think that’ll be easy for me since I’m a relatively an optimistic person. My mom thinks I’m too much of a “Ms. Whatever!” So my resolution might seem like a no brainer but being more positive will really make me think twice before I react to a situation even more. We all tend to react, mostly, overreact but if we step back and think about it, it is not so terrible. And even those events that might seem so devastating, taking ‘us’ out of the equation will make it less dramatic. I really believe there are no problems; just answers, reasons, ….a “silver lining.
Take our environment, for example. Yes, it’s bad right now because we’ve been neglectful, irresponsible, and thoughtless. But we have to go forward with a positive attitude that we can change – that we can change our habits and attitudes and that we will make a difference. We cannot just complain and think hopelessly that it’s irreversible. That’s negative and pessimistic way of thinking. But at the same time, we can’t approach it, thinking, we can “fix” it by following the latest eco trend – recycled bag made of plastic grocery bags for the sake of recycling is not the answer – we have to stop the manufacturers from making those plastic bags because of lack of demand – not recycling them to make trendy bags.
It’s like dieting to lose weight. In order to lose weight, we try all kinds of diets: Nutrisystem, Atkins, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, California, and etc. We eat no carbs, drink diet sodas, join the gym, try to exercise, and just be obsessed with “losing” weight. You know as well as I do, none of those methods work if we think of them as “dieting”. We use the word “diet” as a verb. It has a beginning and an end. But our habits and lifestyles do not have a beginning or an end. It’s a continuum. We all know that we have to approach losing weight as a lifestyle change and not a diet. We also know that we have to have a positive attitude about the new way of thinking – to embrace the new lifestyle.
That’s how we have to approach our current environment that we created. We have to change our lifestyle and our habits to behave more environmentally conscientious but also have a positive attitude that we can change for the better, that we are making a difference, and that we are the solely responsible. That’s on the top of my list of things to think positively this year. How about you?
