I wonder what things I will write about in the new year~
I am still figuring out what my new years resolution should be. After all, I am writing this only 2 hours into the new year. Many people love talking about how new years resolutions don't work, and I think part of that is due to having an unhelpful expectation. A resolution is a good motivator to start your year, and ought to help you get your year off with intentionality. I know how hard it is to keep a single mind throughout an entire rotation around the sun. That being said, I do think that it is reasonable to come up with a goal to start my year off, and I would like to tackle my character flaws. We all have em, right? For me, I have noticed two things that trouble me.
(1) I avoid conflict so much that I struggle to stand up for myself. This doesn't mean that I am getting bullied or anything, but what it does mean is that when I sense something is wrong, I will keep my mouth shut. This is problematic for many reasons. Imagine if you learned that a friend hurt someone else, or if another person opened up and told you something that made you uncomfortable. Confronting it by simply making your displeasure known can cause conflict. I find this hard. If someone feels safe telling me things, who am I to shame them in a moment of vulnerability? Who am I to assume I know the whole story? I keep my mouth shut in most cases, but there are exceptions where I should speak up. So I committ to asserting boundaries while also continuing with my compassion. "I understand where you are coming from, and I get that things are hard right now, but you can not treat other people like this. Do you know how badly that must have affected them?" Just as an example.
(2) I eat too much. For those who don't know me, I am not overweight or anything of the sort, nor do I have an eating disorder. I just crave food often, and I end up over eating to the point of getting heartburn on a daily basis. I want to eat better so that I don't need to use medication to regulate these symptoms. I plan on doing this by combining mindfulness skills with my cravings so that I can notice them, but mindfully deny fulfilling the craving. On days I can't take it, I can eat a light snack like a banana or yogurt.
Those are my new years resolutions. I tried to keep the goal specific while outlining scenarios and steps I can take to make sure this goal is measurable, and attainable. It isn't just something vague like "be happier." The best goals are specific, like "I will ride my bike once a day" and such. What will your new years resolution be?