Unless you've had your head in the sand, you are aware that not only has the calendar flipped into the year 2020 but we have also entered a new decade. It's also that time of year when people write, blog, and talk about a "new you in the new year" and ask us to create New Year Resolutions. If you've read this blog very often, you won't be too surprised that I'm not a fan of making resolutions no matter what time of the year. To me, they can seem short-sighted, inconsequential, and often flippant. Lose weight, stop smoking, work less, save more, go on an exotic vacation...blah, blah, and blah.
We know that New Year's resolutions tend to be short-lived and can't seem to gain much traction. So, much to my surprise, I read an insightful article by Paul C Pritchard about "Give-olutions" (click here to read). and was inspired to play with the idea of what it would be like to have a paradigm shift away from resolutions to what we can "give" throughout 2020.
Fortunately, I was sitting in an airport departure lounge when I read this and had adequate time to contemplate my own list of give-olutions for the upcoming year. I broke it down into three categories: self, others, and the planet. This is what I came up with:
What can I give to myself in 2020?
- Self-care
- Compassion
- Challenges
- Solitude
- Creative activities
- Time for contemplation, direction, and growth
- REST
- New Experiences
- Daily Movement/Exercise
- Optimizing Health
What can I give to others?
- Presence
- Love
- Time
- Donate energy, resources, and services (i.e., volunteer/Seva)
- Patience
- Compassion
- Kindness
- Downsize
- Minimize
- Consume Less
- Decrease the use of single-use items
- Support environmentally conscious businesses
- Compost
I would suggest that you try this out...pop a heading at the top of a page and jot down whatever comes to mind. Then, narrow it down to simply one thing per category to begin working on today. I love the idea of referring back to this list regularly and adjusting to where you are at that moment.
Give-olutions have a stronger sense of doing rather than the more dreamy/lofty/fantastical notions of making a resolution. When we really focus on simply changing just one or two behaviors, we can more easily create life-long shifts.
And as we've been so beautifully reminded through the death of Ram Dass just a couple of weeks ago, that his guru, Neem Karoli Baba taught that if we're feeling stuck in life to get out of our own way and give back to others. Feed people, love people, help people. When we give, it rebounds back to us in a powerful wave of intensity.
I'm keen to hear your thoughts and be inspired by your 2020 give-olutions. Feel free to share!
Happy New Year and New Decade!
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