Promise #84: Strain for less, not more

For all the joy a new year brings, there’s an undue amount of stress, too. That’s because we’re all so tangled up with the pressure and hoopla to make a resolution.

Imagine if we shifted the entire discussion to December 31, 2012? There would be a lot less chatter and it would be much more meaningful. The resolutions that didn’t stick wouldn’t matter. The resolutions that did stick would.

Our shared experiences about the real transformation a resolution makes (after all, that’s the intention) might be slightly more inspiring than a discussion about the transformation we hope it will make. Not that there’s anything wrong about a discussion regarding hope.

Last year I ranted about this, too, when I shared my resolution. Interestingly enough the resolution to just “trust myself” was one that stuck with me all year long. It whispered in my ear when I was ready to farm out a work project or two; it slapped me upside the head when my inner critic questioned my ability to get naked; it reminded me again and again to not be afraid to just see what might happen if I ________________.

I learned that this whole resolution wanderlust is deeply personal. It’s not about joining a gym or getting a new job or landing a deal. It is about finding the power within to produce the change you need, desire, crave or dream.

It’s about being patient and kind to yourself. It’s about making a pinky promise with your soul.

So whether you already staked your claim, or you already walked away from your stake, consider this:

why not spend the year straining for less

so you can get to the heart of your matter

and make it matter even more?

Promise #83: Pay homage to your angel

There comes a point in time when everything must land on a piece of barbed wire.

Me. You. Even a snowflake that’s fallen from the sky.

So don’t waste your time pondering the why or wondering the what if.

Spend it making snowmen and throwing snowballs.

Lay down on the freezing cold earth

and pay homage to your guardian angel—

outline her blessed figure in the snow.

After all, she’s the one who empowers you

to pull every barb from your being

before you melt

back

into

the

 sky.

Promise #79: Hold it together with strength and conviction

There’s no use arguing about it: paper clips and rubber bands share the same lot in life. They hold things together.

Sure, the “things” are different, but the functionality is the same.

Paper clips are twisted, rigid, bent in two with rounded corners and seemingly one-dimensional to the naked eye. Most people think that if a paper clip isn’t holding paper-thin things together then it’s useless. That’s not entirely the case, but perception is often reality.

Rubber bands, on the other hand, live large. Complete. Flexible. Potential fashion-icon-status. Produced in lovely colors. Able to urge you to Live Strong or Find Peace or something equally inspirational. They lasso big things and small, adorn wrists, turn slingshots into works of art. Only problem is rubber bands eventually snap and crack under pressure.

Not the case with that shiny, silver thing.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

That tiny little clip will perform for you for as long as you need and as long as you like.

Just goes to show the trick in holding it together is knowing where to place your trust.

Promise #72: Cruise through life

The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.

-C. G. Jung

_____

This may be the most interesting street in the world. It’s as smooth as it is rough, as light as it is dark. It’s full of twists and dips, peaks and potholes. There are rumble strips and yellow lights, tire-worn paint and shoulder-hugging rails. But for all there is, there are no turns. You can travel one mile or a million and the trip will change your life.

Friend street is funny like that: you need to buckle up and enjoy the ride or search for the nearest exit ramp.

I traveled the ramp a few times. Sometimes I was the driver, sometimes not. Regardless, I always managed to find a little extra energy at the end of it, no doubt the result of leaving a soul-sucking ride in the dust.

It’s the soul-feeding experience that’s worth finding.

I’m talking about the comfort of knowing the beauty of conversation matches the strength of a long silence;  of realizing that when your battery starts to fade, it will be jumped with a smile; of stoking your life with the high-octane juice pure, honest, loving friends provide; of trusting you’ll get where you’re going, not on a wing and a prayer, but on the pumped up wheels of support we all need to thrive.

Sometimes it’s difficult to remember the easiest way to cruise through life is to just make the time for a joy ride.

Promise #71: Give your shim sham shimmy a rest

In other words: quit tap dancing.

When you dance around a subject the world wonders: WHY?

When you dance around a question our only thought is: WTF?

When you shuffle your feet we imagine you wanting to be somewhere else.

When you rock back and forth, arms crossed, eyes elsewhere, we know you’re lying.

Your little shim sham shimmy is exhausting. For us, more than you.

So grow up and give it a rest.

It’s so much easier to dance when you’re not all tangled up in lies.