New Year"s Resolutions and Over Coming Habits
We carefully count the coming and going of years. We celebrate the passing of one year and the arrival of the next. Caught up in the ongoing cycle, how often do we give praise to our Creator?
Our world wobbles in its orbit and seasons change. In honor of yet another revolution around the sun, we make resolutions and too often break them. Yet with every opportunity each New Year provides, perhaps inspired by the same unseen force which causes green shoots to emerge from dormant seeds, we strengthen our resolve to break out of old ways, rid ourselves of bad habits, and establish better ones.
For a fleeting instant we remember our maker.
Guru Nanak wrote:
"Kott kottee meree aarjaa pavan pee-an api-aao||
If I could live for millions and millions of years, and if the air was my food and drink,
chand sooraj due guphai na dekhaa supnai sun an thaao||
and if I lived in a cave and never saw either the sun or the moon, and if I never slept, even in dreams,
bhee teree keemat naa pavai ho kaevadd aakhaa naao||1|
even so, I could not estimate Your Value. How can I describe the Greatness of Your Name?||1|| SGGS||14
Routines have a way of keeping us bound in patterns. We encounter resistance in our attempts to ingrain our familiar schedules with fresh attitudes. Sometimes sheer will power and resolve is enough to insure success. However with the passage of time it seems something within the psyche becomes more rigid and less willing to bend itself to change. The body is obedient to the customary, however much the mind rebels.
Lacking willpower and resolve, yet hoping to overcome habit, I've been casting about for a method to employ which might render the changes I long for in my life.
It seems that whenever I make progress in one area, I give way in another. When I watch ground I've gained give way, I feel the loss keenly. I focus so much of my energy to succeed with a new task that other projects end up sadly lacking attention. I've come to terms with the fact that time management requires organization but stubbornly cling to spontaneity. So I've decided upon a New Year's Resolution sneak attack.
I read about a marathon training program which would take a person from 0 to 30 minutes, enabling them to run for half an hour nonstop, after just a few weeks. It works by employing intermittent increments in intervals of one step forward, half a step back. Run a minute, walk a minute and a half. Do several sets three times each week, taking every other day off. Every succeeding week, add a minute, or so, to running time while reducing the number of sets until running becomes continuous. I thought why not use this method to train myself to a new bedtime - wake up schedule, better eating habits, and Yes, even running!
My main objective is to wake up earlier. I don't want to miss out on naam and amritvela. So my new approach will be to set the alarm back 5 minutes every other day for a week, 10 minutes the second week, and so forth, meanwhile going to bed just a wee bit earlier, so that my system completely bypasses shock associated with changing routine. This kind of rotation system has been used also for weight loss and maintenance. I'm feeling encouraged and enthusiastic that this could really work for me.
My goal is to get up half an hour earlier by the end of January, and an hour earlier by the end of February. I want to use the precious minutes gained for indulging in Simran rather than sleep, and to while away the hour gained with Waheguru.
If you have had any difficulty with keeping resolutions in the past, I invite you to renew your determination, and try this rotation method with me. I welcome you to share your goals, pledges, and progress. I request you please to offer your encouragement over the coming weeks.
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Our world wobbles in its orbit and seasons change. In honor of yet another revolution around the sun, we make resolutions and too often break them. Yet with every opportunity each New Year provides, perhaps inspired by the same unseen force which causes green shoots to emerge from dormant seeds, we strengthen our resolve to break out of old ways, rid ourselves of bad habits, and establish better ones.
For a fleeting instant we remember our maker.
Guru Nanak wrote:
"Kott kottee meree aarjaa pavan pee-an api-aao||
If I could live for millions and millions of years, and if the air was my food and drink,
chand sooraj due guphai na dekhaa supnai sun an thaao||
and if I lived in a cave and never saw either the sun or the moon, and if I never slept, even in dreams,
bhee teree keemat naa pavai ho kaevadd aakhaa naao||1|
even so, I could not estimate Your Value. How can I describe the Greatness of Your Name?||1|| SGGS||14
Routines have a way of keeping us bound in patterns. We encounter resistance in our attempts to ingrain our familiar schedules with fresh attitudes. Sometimes sheer will power and resolve is enough to insure success. However with the passage of time it seems something within the psyche becomes more rigid and less willing to bend itself to change. The body is obedient to the customary, however much the mind rebels.
Lacking willpower and resolve, yet hoping to overcome habit, I've been casting about for a method to employ which might render the changes I long for in my life.
It seems that whenever I make progress in one area, I give way in another. When I watch ground I've gained give way, I feel the loss keenly. I focus so much of my energy to succeed with a new task that other projects end up sadly lacking attention. I've come to terms with the fact that time management requires organization but stubbornly cling to spontaneity. So I've decided upon a New Year's Resolution sneak attack.
I read about a marathon training program which would take a person from 0 to 30 minutes, enabling them to run for half an hour nonstop, after just a few weeks. It works by employing intermittent increments in intervals of one step forward, half a step back. Run a minute, walk a minute and a half. Do several sets three times each week, taking every other day off. Every succeeding week, add a minute, or so, to running time while reducing the number of sets until running becomes continuous. I thought why not use this method to train myself to a new bedtime - wake up schedule, better eating habits, and Yes, even running!
My main objective is to wake up earlier. I don't want to miss out on naam and amritvela. So my new approach will be to set the alarm back 5 minutes every other day for a week, 10 minutes the second week, and so forth, meanwhile going to bed just a wee bit earlier, so that my system completely bypasses shock associated with changing routine. This kind of rotation system has been used also for weight loss and maintenance. I'm feeling encouraged and enthusiastic that this could really work for me.
My goal is to get up half an hour earlier by the end of January, and an hour earlier by the end of February. I want to use the precious minutes gained for indulging in Simran rather than sleep, and to while away the hour gained with Waheguru.
If you have had any difficulty with keeping resolutions in the past, I invite you to renew your determination, and try this rotation method with me. I welcome you to share your goals, pledges, and progress. I request you please to offer your encouragement over the coming weeks.
Get My Twitter Updates | Join Sikhism Beyond the Tenth Gate
Follow Me on Facebook | Subscribe to My Newsletter
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