How are resolutions different from promises? I often make resolutions as a joke, knowing full well they will be long disregarded before I get to the bottom of my champagne. January 2010, this is the year I … (fill in the blank) It seems almost as if it’s a running gag - come the holidays ‘So what’s your resolution this year? I didn’t keep it, I never did it. To be honest with you, it’s almost as if it’s hungover (ha) our heads January 2nd, one more thing to make us feel bad - one more barometer on how we disappoint ourselves and yes, yet another box to check on the never ending ‘to do’ list we create for ourselves. Now, don’t get me wrong, it all starts off with good intentions, great intentions, earnest intentions, in fact. Yet, even the most strong willed of us falters by February 26th.
Resolution defined: firmness of purpose. Firmness of purpose? By that definition alone it almost seems as if we are set up for failure from the start. It seems boundried, and, the boundaries are fixed, meaning there’s nowhere to go. That’s not yoga’s intention, yoga asks you to move within your boundaries, but to know they are not fixed, they are always expanding and always changing, growing, just as you ebb and flow so do the boundaries you define yourself with, maybe this time is a time to challenge those boundaries a bit, maybe it’s a time to explore securely within them. Know that a promise, well that’s something quite different then a resolution indeed. It’s an indication of future excellence, a declaration of something that will be done. It’s hopefulness. So whatever promise it is that you’ve made to yourself this month; realize: A promise is an affirmation. Yoga is an affirmation; yoga’s purpose is to affirm life – your life. Let the promise be the yoga.
Remember though, the funny thing is - is that resolution starts with good intentions, it’s something to be resolved, to transform by any process – to clear away, in essence : to make space – optimal space, and, isn’t that yoga’s goal? So I ask you this - Can you be resolute in your promise? That’s what yoga asks after all………
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I am having much difficulty crafting a promise that is meaningful to me. I have hard times with promises. Mainly because so many have broken. So my dear best friend said write a daily haiku: it could be about nature (as are most traditional Haiku are) or it could be about yoga.
ReplyDeleteI loved that idea haiku captures the essence of the tropic one writes about. It is done in few simple words, but the pictures are so very evocative. Isn't yoga about the essence the energy of a pose or person.
So here is my haiku for day 3
written at 6:30 a m this morning
Colors of dawn sky
canvas awaits unpainted
anticipation
In reflecting on my own promises, I realize that there are those that seem easy to keep and others that are not. Promises that I make for myself for things I think I SHOULD do, are the difficult ones to keep. For example, if I think I SHOULD eat less, then a promise to myself to do so becomes immediately challenging as I start thinking more about keeping it. Invariably, some event presents itself that causes a conflict. A birthday or holiday comes, or simply going out to dinner with friends happens. Then that promise becomes extremely difficult to keep because of the temptation of good food, and my lack of true commitment to something that I SHOULD do. Maybe it's time to stop making promises based on SHOULDS!
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