Resolutions or Resolve?

Hey Guys.  I apologise for the break in posting. Between the holidays, computer issues, moving to another space in the house and a whole pile of family drama it has been impossible to get any blogging done.  We are well into the new year already....almost two weeks....so Twitter and Facebook are all a buzz with everyones attempts to maintain their "New Year's Resolutions". Its like suddenly as we start a new calendar we are obligated to swear off eating and promise to exercise more. I am all for self improvement (as long as it does not mean I have to give up coffee) but I think we set ourselves up for failure when we throw blanket resolutions out into the universe. What good is it to say you will eat better if you have not established any plan to do so? On January 1st when your fridge still contains only New years party leftovers and some flat diet Pepsi your options are certainly going to be limited. If you want to make positive changes in your life this year I applaud you! Now put away your calendar and grab a copy of the food guide. Put down the dayplanner and grab a schedule for your community fitness club." Tracy", you may be saying to yourself ,"you are totally off topic". Blogs are supposed to stay in their niche. (Raspberries) Well, I am, sort of. In my ACT therapy sessions we have been talking about our values. Our values are those things that we hold nearest and dearest to our heart. In my case it was:

• 1. Will of God
• 2. Family
• 3. Purpose
• 4.Knowledge
• 5. Creativity

I know, I am not very complicated as most of you would have known that they were my values 5 minutes after following me on Twitter (@TracySagriff). The point is that if I focus on those 5 things and let everything else fall behind them I will be living a life that is more inline with my true self. So, what does that have to do with resolutions...well I am glad you asked. There is no point in my spending energy and stress making a resolution to eat better or exercise (except for the obvious health benefits) because looking good, being thin and the like are not high values to me. However, making plans to prayerfully allot extra family time like taking an art class with my daughter or taking my son with me to a daily Mass are things that are totally fulfilling for me. It fills my cup. I think its important to mentally draw the line for myself that these are not just New Year's Resolutions, but rather the resolve to become more in tune with what drives me. Everything else is just extra baggage that weighs me down on my path to recovery. This week spend some time examining if you are living your life according to your values. If your not...what is it that is holding you back? My thoughts and prayers are with you.