Making resolutions for a new year – again? Often resolutions revolve around the physical, such as exercising, going on a diet, engaging in outdoor activity more, or planting a better garden. Other resolutions may feed our social and mental well-being, such as spending more time with friends and family, limiting media exposure, or volunteering. This year how about making a resolution to improve your spiritual health?
Do you have a resolution that feeds the soul, your life’s purpose, your spiritual growth?
Addressing the deeper aspects of our being can actually have an effect on our mental states and bodies, perhaps even making some of those other physically oriented resolutions easier.
Many Americans now categorize themselves as “spiritual, not religious.” I think this is a great trend, because spiritual people have more of a live-and-let-live attitude and won’t be starting any religious wars, of which there have been many throughout history. There’s a catch, though – being vaguely spiritual without a specific practice won’t help you when the going gets tough. So make this the year to create a specific, daily, physical manifestation of your spiritual yearnings.
It is important to concretize your good intentions into action; meditation, prayer, lighting a candle at an altar, taking a few moments to give thanks for the good things in our lives are a few examples. Find a practice that suits you and do it, daily.
I consider meditation to be a baseline spiritual practice, but my actual practice can be quite variable depending on what is going on. Funny how when I most need these beneficial practices is when they go by the wayside! Stressors tend to come up and throw me off track, and I lose my place. That's when having a baseline – a minimal practice to return to when I don’t have the time or focus for more – is critical. If I have a minimal meditation practice I can maintain through the rough times, and I have something to return to when I’m ready. I find this much more helpful than vacillating between extremes.
When falling off the wagon, mat, or meditation cushion, inertia kicks in and it and takes an even greater effort to get things started up again. It’s disheartening to start over and over again. If I have a minimal baseline practice, I have something to return to and enlarge upon. This is how I create incremental progress over time; not just one month, or even a year, but a lifetime.
Sometimes, after an initial effort to “keep” our resolutions, we give up. After several years of this, a kind of hopelessness creeps in. Meaningful change seems futile, or out of reach. Try these ideas to create a mini-practice:
• Can’t get to the gym? Do ten minutes of exercise at home.
• No time to meditate? Try taking 30 second meditation “pulses” during your day.
• Don’t have a lot of spare time to volunteer? Shovel the sidewalk for an elderly neighbor or spend a few hours at the food bank.
Just get started, and it will lead to more. Manifesting the person we want to be is an ongoing process. It’s more realistic to make incremental changes – slow and steady progress, with occasional backsliding along the way. Respect the ebb and flow that is reality, and understand that creating lasting change involves integrating small changes over time. Dedicate yourself to the best part of who you are.
Make a resolution to create a practice you can maintain and build upon that becomes part of your life.
Bear McKay
What resolutions are you thinking about this year?
How will they serve you in the year to come?
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