We got an interesting newsletter in our utilities this month. It had an excerpt from an article written by Rabbi Sir Jonathon Sacks. I thought that I would share them because I thought they were different from the conventional "get my fat butt off the couch and lose 50lbs in 2 months" type goals that we sometimes like to set but then never really do. These were lifestyle goals that I think that we can always work on not only help us physically but also spiritually.
Give Thanks: Once a day take quiet time to feel gratitude for what you have, not impatience for what you don't have. It's just that we we tend to take these for granted and focus on unmet wants, unfulfilled desires.
Praise: Catch someone doing something right and say so. Most people, most, of the time, are unappreciated. You will make their day, and that will help make yours.
Spend Time with your Family: Make sure that there is at least one time a week when you sit down to have a meal together with no distractions - no television, no phone, no e-mail, just being together and celebrating one another's company.
Discover meaning: Take time out, once in awhile, to ask, "Why am I here? What do I hope to achieve? How can I best use my gifts? What would I wish to be said about me when I am no longer here?" Finding meaning is essential to a fulfilled life - and how can you find it if you never look?
Live your Values: Most of us believe in high ideals, but we act on them only sporadically. The best thing to do is to establish habits that get us to enact those ideals daily.
Forgive: This is the emotional equivalent of losing excess weight. Life is too short to bear a grudge or seek revenge. The bad has happened. It won't make it better by your dwelling on it. Let it go. Move on.
Keep Learning: Florence, on her 105th birthday, was asked "What's the secret?" "Never be afraid to learn something new," she said. Then I realized that if you are willing to learn, you can be 105 and still young. If you are not, you can be 25 and already old.
Learn to Listen: Often, in conversation, we spend half our time thinking of what we want to say next instead of paying attention to what the other person is saying. Listening is one of life's greatest gifts that we can give someone else.
Create Moments of Silence: Liberate yourself, if only for five minutes daily, from the tyranny of technology, the mobile phone, the laptop and all other electronic intruders, and just inhale the air of existence, the joy of being.
I thought these were great New Year Resolutions. I would also like to add one that a Rabbi might not mention.
As you do all these things do them in reverence. I have been teaching my nursery kids that being reverent is thinking of our Savior, Jesus Christ. As you think of the things you are grateful for think of who gave them to you. As you learn to listen, take time to listen as you pray. Some of my most touching prayers have been the ones where I hardly spoke but I listened. Do you really know your Heavenly Father? Do you know Jesus? I know that they know you and that they REALLY listen.
Happy New Year's Everyone! Hope 2010 is great!
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