I’ve been alive long enough to know that New Year’s Resolutions almost NEVER work out, so I’ve stopped making them. It just sets you up for failure, and no thanks, I’d rather not have any more of that. But that’s not to say I don’t see this new year as an opportunity to make a new commitment to doing things better, having greater focus in my life. So, I’m game. I’ll take this opportunity to hope and plan for something better (without actually using that fatalistic phrase “New Year’s Resolution.”).
One of my Christmas presents was a book called The Best of Everything After 50, which I have only just now begun to go through. I’m finding a few ideas that are dated, and others that are simply “not me,” (sorry, I’m NOT going to wear a blazer, I don’t care how stylish and timeless it’s supposed to be). But I did come upon one idea that really appeals to me.
In the section about eliminating clutter, it’s suggested you “create a personal theme that defines what your life will be,” then eliminate everything that doesn’t support your “theme.” I like that. It really gives definition to your “de-junking” and helps you sculpt the life you want to have.
So. What is my theme? Hmmm….
I’ve come up with several nifty sayings down through the years, but I’m going to concentrate on two that are really speaking to me right now.
One:
What is REAL? What is IMPORTANT?
Because when you come to think of it, it’s way too easy to spend a whole lot of time and effort on things that are not real, and not important. It’s way too easy to get bogged down in the mundane. Not to say it’s appropriate to give up all mundane activities (after all, if you quit doing the laundry, eventually you’ll be walking around in a smelly, dirty blazer), but in as much as it’s possible, it’s probably a good idea to evaluate the things you do, and try to eliminate those kinds of things that aren’t really going anywhere.
Case in point: up until about a year ago, Russ and I were producing a monthly podcast about the 1960’s gothic soap opera Dark Shadows. When we started doing it, there were a lot of new things to learn, and it was a ton of fun. The quality product we had at the end of the month seemed to justify the amount of time and effort we had to put into it. But then, as time went on, though we discovered quicker and better ways of doing things, we just weren’t getting the same bang for our buck, and it started to become a drag, a burden.
Luckily, we both felt about the same way about the same time, and so it was easy to make a decision to give up this project. Also (for me at least) when you think of it, though contemplations of a 1960’s pop culture phenomenon are fun and GROOVY, in the long run, it’s not REAL and it’s not IMPORTANT. It’s just entertainment. And I think I devote entirely too much of my time to entertainment as it is. Something had to go, and it was the podcast.
What is real? What is important? Real life, real people, God, Jesus. Other stuff too, I’m sure, and when I get the chance to sit and think about it, I’ll come up with a more comprehensive list. But for the meantime, these are the new questions I’m going to be asking myself on a constant basis: is it REAL? Is it IMPORTANT? And if some new thing trying to worm its way into my life doesn’t appear to be real or important, I might want to take a step back.
Now, here’s the next saying:
HEALTHY. HOLY. HAPPY.
When you think about it, what more can you ask for in life? You can really boil it down to these three concepts.
Being healthy means taking care of ourselves, our bodies, our minds, our emotions, our environment. Being holy means staying in tune with God, finding out what it is that He desires , and striving to do His will. And being happy means there should be joy in how we approach everything that fills our days.
So my new goal for the new year is to be contemplative of every experience and opportunity that comes my way, and examine it to see if it is REAL and IMPORTANT, and try to get those kinds of things into my life on a more regular basis. Then I’ll be looking for ways to be Healthy, Holy and Happy.
In regards to the “de-junking” process, I can look at each item and ask myself:
Is this REAL?
Is it IMPORTANT?
Does it help me be HEALTHY?
Does it help me be HOLY?
Does it help me be HAPPY?
Or, is it in fact in direct opposition to any of those criteria?
I feel these questions will help give me greater focus as I continue on in my fifties, and approach my sixties, and the rest of my life. These questions will help me realize how much garbage there is in my life that is not really helping me at all, and hopefully I’ll have the gumption to “take out the trash.” (A lot has gone out already, but there’s so much more, it’s an ongoing process.)
So that’s my plan for the new year. I’m trying to keep it simple, so I’ve boiled it all down to five words, which I can count on one hand: REAL, IMPORTANT, HEALTHY, HOLY, HAPPY.
My mind feels clearer already.
