Twelve years ago, I vowed to live life with no regrets. UM...ahem. I haven't done much in the way of "Resolutions" since then. As a matter of fact, I find that I am drifting through most days. A co-worker suggested we all make a bucket list for our work fun-time activity, and I realized that maybe the reason I haven't accomplished much is because I haven't goaled myself with much. Degree? Check. Master's Degree(s)? Check, check. Perhaps it is because these things happened over the course of life and without specific intention that I feel a bit aimless.
So, I started my bucket list. Nothing on it is earth shattering; the things on it are things I have been thinking about for years, but never committed to paper. Yet somehow, the act of writing them down and seeing them in ink seems to make them real. Maybe it is like the love of a boy making the Velveteen Rabbit real; goals need ink to give them life.
I am not going to share a bunch of goals and resolutions here, because (a), you probably don't want to hear them all, and (b), that's not the point. What I am going to do is boil all this into a very simple phrase for my new year: I am going to live with intention.
There is a great book by Dr. Wayne Dyer called The Power of Intention. I read it years ago and just couldn't absorb everything I needed to absorb. I am going to read it again. There is a passage on page 230 that seems to crystallize everything I am thinking:
"If you bring forth what is inside you,
what you bring forth will save you.
If you don't bring forth what is inside you,
what you don't bring forth will destroy you."
No more floating and drifting. I am going to actively participate in my life, and be fully alive. I owe that to my family, my friends, and most of all - to myself.
Join me. The Yellow Brick Road is full of obstacles and scary characters, but they all teach us something and cement our resolve, when we look at them for meaning. The Yellow Brick Road is also full of beauty, love and joy. I look forward to our awareness.
