Choices

I'm not sure what to think of New Years Resolutions. I generally believe that any effort to grow better is good--in fact, that is yoga--and I admire anyone who efforts to do so, no matter where the starting place. But Resolutions seem like they set us up to fail. "I will not..." or "I will do such and such 5 days a week..." or what have you--we raise the bar from the floor (where it has landed after our Holiday indulgences-- which required one hand to hold the martini and the other hand to shovel cookies into our mouths-- leaving no hand for holding that damned bar up!) to way above our heads. And what does it do? Drop on our heads and make us feel bad. And now we have a bigger but and a sore noggin. Not so fabulous. No more, I say. Do something reasonable! That's what I'm going to do and I hope that is what you will do. Here is something that has helped me in the past: Instead of thinking about the giant task ahead (lose twenty pounds, stop smoking, work out so many days a week, etc), think about one choice at a time. So let's take a morning--instead of thinking "Today, I will be perfect," take it little choice by little choice. When the alarm sounds, will I choose to hit snooze or just get up? Once I'm up, will I dawdle or will I put on my tennis shoes? When I have my shoes on, will I drink some water and go for my run or will I look at the paper, make the coffee, and dawdle? When I'm back from my run, will I make myself the egg white omelette or will I just pour a bowl of cereal? With my coffee, will I have skim or half and half? ETC ETC ETC....No one choice is all that difficult. It's what we build up in our heads that is difficult. It is the pressure that is difficult. It is the fear of disappointment that is difficult. So let's try this together--this week, try letting go of the pressure of the promises, the resolutions, the expectations, and just concentrate on the small choice after small choice. I'll report to you next weekend and I hope that you will share your experiences with me, too. Now, I am going to make the small choice to go get some more ice cream. Just kidding. :)