On Resolutions...Or, Are You A Resoluter?

For the sake of this post, let's begin with defining terms.

Resolution: a firm decision to do or not to do something. 

Rule: a principle that operates within a particular sphere of knowledge, describing or prescribing what is possible or allowable.  

Goal: the object of a person's ambition or effort; an aim or desired result

Guideline: a general rule, principle, piece of advice, recommendation

Short and sweet: I believe that life, in its many variations of messiness, is far too complex to be amenable to resolutions, therefore, not a fan.  One can certainly have the best of intentions (a thing intended; an aim or a plan) every day, yet life, as we know it, has its own intentions that occasionally intersect with our plans and as frequently roils up to capsize them with the force of a tsunami.

Resolutions, I think, get in the way of our goals because, really, what in life is absolutely, positively, 100% set in stone--which, in my view, is what a resolution by its nature says that it will do.  

Good to go with goals.  These can be productive as they provide a focus for effort.  Few of us like to operate in a vacuum where we feel no sense of accomplishment.  In retirement, goals can move to the LCD (lowest common denominator) on days.  As in, today my goal is to get out of bed, make said bed, and we'll see where it goes from there.  The other retired folk I've met so far in this first year seldom operate on the LCD mode yet their goals are nowhere in line with those they had while working.  They shouldn't be.

I still struggle with the concept of rules, as in hard and fast.  I've previously blogged about how I embrace the grey-ness of life.  Rules are not fans of any shade of grey.  The "one way or another" perspective holds little appeal for me, which is why I remain a big fan of the guideline.  Being a guideliner rather than a resoluter, I think, allows me to remain open to the so many, many varied, multiple, fascinating, diverse perspectives on life.  It seems as I get older, I am more interested in seeking opinions that push me to wonder, "Hmm, why don't I see it that way?"  Mental gymnastics.  Take my Fearless Aging class.

There's a message currently going around on Facebook that I received.  It's an electronic passing of the peace: passing the light of peace, love and prosperity.  Remember that we prosper in a magnificence of ways, not all related to finances. 

If you do prefer the New Year's Resolution route, my friend Karen also shared a post from her friend Harriet Lerner in which Harriet exhorts us to choose one resolution.  That is the resolution to be kind.

Peace, love, prosperity and kindness to all in 2018 from the frozen northland.

Cooking:
If you live where it's below zero today, here are a couple science experiments that are fun.  One involves the simplest of cooking: boiling water.

1. Boil a pot of water.
2. Dress warmly.
3. Go outside with the pot of water and throw it, away from you, up in the air. The boiling water immediately turns into clouds of steam.

The second requires that you have a bottle of bubbles, which, if you're a parent or grandparent of a young child, you may well have on hand.  Thanks to my loved daughter-in-law, Kitty, (wife of he who must not be named) for this one.

1. Find the bottle of bubbles.
2. Dress warmly.
3. Go outside and blow the bubbles.  They will freeze!  When they pop, little shards of the liquid will rain down.