New Year’s Resolutions

To J.C.
"Come back to square one, just the minimum bare bones. Relaxing with the present moment, relaxing with hopelessness, relaxing with death, not resisting the fact that things end, that things pass, that things have no lasting substance, that everything is changing all the time - that is the basic message". (Pema Chodron)

· I will eat more greens and less meat.
· I will listen to more music and watch less TV.
· I will tell mom and dad I miss them more and I love them most.
· I will make an effort to touch the cats, and snuggle, even if I come home with a splitting headache and no willingness to touch anything other than a bottle of Excedrin.
· I will eat less pills and I will do the bridge pose more, to cure migraines.
· I will use my furniture more. I have two comfy chairs that I never sit in. I will sit in my chairs more. Give them attention.
· I will spend more on others and less on me.
· I will be open minded. “Crazy” is such a simple classification. “Crazy” should be so complex and so thought-through. “Crazy” should never be used as an easy dismissal!
· I will pay more attention to words. They can cure … and they can hurt … and they can kill!
· I will label less. Actually, I’ll throw away the label maker!
· I will be mindful of my presence, here, on Earth.
· I will make an effort not to leave marks, unless they’re of love and whispers.
· I will really smell the roses and hydrangeas in my garden, not just acknowledge their color.
· I will kiss Gypsy more and pop his tail less.
· I will hug more.
· I will kiss less fast.
· I will “make” more and “buy” less.
· I will write more and speak less.
· I will speak less and listen more.
· I will teach myself patience, one teardrop and one sweat bead at a time!
· I will open my heart, like you open a vein, into the running water: free, and hopeless. Completely flowing and exposed, oblivious of the consequences!
· I will let my heart bleed to the world and learn freedom!
· I will read more.
· I will make my nails more often. They make me smile and make me feel pretty and clean.
· I will touch my toes more.
· I will welcome life and love in my life.
· I will start the days with a smile and not a frown.
· Like a beautiful willow tree, I will be lonely in the field, with my head bowed humbly at the sky, and thanking Mother Earth for having me …
· And people will see me from afar and will come visit my strength and beauty.
· But I will be OK. Alone. And just letting the wind comb my wild and unruly branches.
· I will seek freedom and allow it on others, too, as much as I can help it.
· I will be the door that opens. Never the one that closed.
· I will learn more and forget less.
· I will use my crock-pot more and my microwave less.
· I will heat up more tea, and open less wine.
· I will eat more honey and less preserves.
· I will kill fewer chickens, and grow more lovage!
· I will stubbornly live.
· I am stubbornly starting.
· I will have no regrets!

“The sound of the stream, after all, is without present, without past.” (Ching An)