Intentions for 2012

Each year around New Year's, there is a load of talk about resolutions and fresh starts.  I think there was one year, back in '84 or so, that I resolved to stop biting my fingernails.  To date, I think it is the only resolution that has been 100% successful (I'm sure you'd be grossed out and then relieved to also know that I even stopped biting my toenails that year).  I have always assumed that resolutions are an attempt to fix a problem, to find a solution to some maladaptive way of life. 

This year, I've decided that I'm not willing to set myself up for failure.  Instead, I developed some intentions for 2012 that will help me continue to grow as a person, and to be a source of positive growth for the evolutionary path of living things.  One of the things that I like about the idea of intentions is that it eliminates an 'all or nothing' assumption and softens goals to make them reachable by taking steps in a direction of growth, personally and globally.

What are my intentions?  In a nutshell, my goal is to reach a higher level of mindfulness.  How are my actions each moment, each day, each week, and each year affecting the world around me?  Am I making conscious choices that promote growth and love, or am I, at times, sending out negativity that leads to sabotage (for myself or others)?  Over the last year I have become keenly aware that my own thoughts have a profound impact on my environment and the people in it.  Am I questioning automatic thought patterns that reflect negativity?  Do I model behaviors that reflect the kind of people that I want my children to become?  What am I doing to make this world a better place to live?  

Sometimes I wonder if I conveniently 'forget' that my actions are always affecting something, somewhere else outside of myself and really it becomes an issue of paying more attention to the greater good of the whole and less attention to my own ego.

My word for 2012:  Mindful

How will I know that I am steering in the direction of these intentions?
At the end of each day, I will write down something that I intentionally did to reach for mindfulness.  It maybe one simple sentence, a couple of sentences, or a story about the transformation of my thoughts and actions along with the subsequent effect on myself and those around me.  As simple as an intentional interruption in my thought patterns to see a situation from another point of view, or a constructive critical view of my ego's desires and impulsive nature.

My 'Mindful Journal' is ready for its first entry, a copy of this blog post as a reminder of its birth.

May your reflections on the new beginnings of 2012 lead you to wonderful places!