On the Path: Reverse Resolutions
For a long time now, I’ve avoided making New Year’s Resolutions. It isn’t because I’m not goal-oriented. It’s probably because I am actually too goal-oriented. If you are a recovering perfectionist like I am, you will understand. I get a lot of things done, but sometimes, I’m so focused on the end result I miss much of the joy in the journey.
Reverse Resolutions:
My method for at least the last three years has been to make a list of Reverse Resolutions. First, I open my journal and my collection of photos for the year and I start remembering. I can make a pretty decent list of all of my accomplishments for the year, the moments when I met a goal, the moments when I really felt joy, and even a couple of the failures. The end result is a beautiful list of things I could have written down as New Year’s Resolutions if I had had the insight to see into the future.
Before I started this, I could depend on six things being on my New Year’s list every year: Get up earlier in the morning. Be 100% successful in remembering to say my personal prayers. Lose ten pounds (or twenty). Get consistent at exercising. Be more devoted to my scripture study. Eat a healthier diet. Same list, same push of initial effort, same overall failure rate. Truth be told, all six of those things are on my to-do list again this year (hope springs eternal).
Listmaking
The Reverse Resolutions List is one of my favorite lists of the year, though. It is a catalog of my DONE projects and experiences that requires casting my mind back over all of the high points of my entire year, giving myself some credit for progress made, and finding that there was real joy in the journey.
Yesterday, I spent part of the day with a sick two-year-old granddaughter. The only thing I could find that would calm her was sitting with my iPad watching through the half-dozen Family Videos I made after taking an inexpensive videography class: A trip to the beach, a granddaughter’s first steps, the afternoon we went sledding in the back yard.
Together with a feverish 2-year-old cuddled up against my shoulder, I had living color, slow-motion proof of some beautiful moments. Checking one thing off from my list (take a videography class) helped me gather proof of the joy I have in my life.
The New Path
My path this year is to see how much progress I can make toward being a children’s book writer. Or a writer. My goal is to be gentle and generous with myself. I am not even completely certain about whether it is the right path. All I know is that it is a path that beckons, and I want to take it.
-January 6, 2020