A New Year

I love New Years for the same reason I love mornings… new beginnings… everything past is wiped away and I can start all over again to be better than I was… I even named my 1st child for new beginnings… Dawn.

I usually don’t make “resolutions” I find them to be a tad pithy, if you know what I mean. “Lose weight”, “be more organized”, “quit smoking”, blah, blah, blah…. well I DID quit smoking, but not on January 1… I waited a reasonable length of time, till February 13th, and then I quit… my rationale behind all this is I hate to make promises that I know (at least deep down) that I am not going to keep.

For me, achieving a goal is a mind set. Being your classic Type A, Obsessive-Compulsive person I have to make up my mind to do something and then everything, and I do mean everything, except the achieving of that goal takes second place.

One side of this is that those who know me will tell you that when I set my mind to something I get it done. Unfortunately for my family and friends this often means that I pay them less attention, do fewer considerate things (such as phone calls) during those “focused” times than they rightfully deserve or than I should, simply because I really do love them. I don’t have time for them since all my time is going to achieving something else. It also means not being patient with strangers who get in my way, such as on the freeway; after all, what I have to do (where I’m going) is very important.

Look again, if you re-read the above more closely you’ll see it’s all about “me”. Fits in perfectly with our world as it is today, doesn’t it? The love yourself folks are probably out their thinking… “yeah.. right on”… or something to that effect. The attitude that one has to “take care of oneself first, because no one else will” is a prevailing ideology today.

The TRUTH is that it is absolutely the WRONG approach! Approach to what? To everything… life… love… people. And, I AM WRONG when I do that – shoving everyone else aside for the attainment of some goal of mine. But, it also includes things like getting angry with other drivers when they get in my way, which I think of as “them not considering where I have to go and when I have to be there.” In actuallity, it’s me who’s not doing any considering of others at that point.

It’s supposed to be all about LOVE. Not the “love” of the 60’s but true unmitigated love for others, that’s what should be always paramont in our lives. When asked what the greatest commandment is, Jesus responded that “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.” Mark 12:30. He went on to say, “And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” John reports that Jesus also said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus did as he taught… he laid down His life for us. His Father loved us too, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son.” John 3:16.

So this year, I am making a “resolution”, actually two… even though I know I’m not going to get either right, I am going to try… My first resolution is to Love God with ALL that I am and my second is that I will love you more than myself. It doesn’t matter who “you” are… you are my neighbor (the internet’s made it a very small world). Like I said I know I won’t get this perfectly correct, no matter how hard I try… but it’s worth trying… and if I fail, I’m going to try again, and again… This includes being more patient and thoughtful of others. After all, isn’t that what it really means to love? And, I want to remember to treat other drivers as I want to be treated. And when I fail, please remind me that I promised.