New Years is our go to time to view the highs and lows of the past year, set goals, and ultimately discard them by mid to late February. The truth is this shouldn’t be a once-a-year reflection. We should be taking the time to reflect daily, weekly, and even monthly to check in and see if our life is headed in the direction we are wanting. That isn’t to say we won’t meet roadblocks or become derailed from time to time. It is a part of life, but it is one we should be learning from and growing through rather than just accepting as human nature shrugging and allowing it to continue. So wherever you are in your day here’s some Warrior food for thought
Two Natures
Many of
us our familiar with the Native American story of two wolves within us. In this
tale a grandfather is imparting wisdom to his grandson about the two natures or
driving forces that battle within him daily like wolves. One is positive (full
of joy, peace, love, compassion, hope, and faith) while the other is negative
(full of anger, regret, envy, greed, arrogance, self-pity, etc). The grandson
reflects on this before asking his grandfather which will win? His grandfather
solemnly replies – “the one you feed.”
This is
a short, but powerful reminder of the daily fight every single one of us must
face. Every day our thoughts, our words, and our deeds either feed a positive
mentality or a more negative one. And it’s an empowering reminder that we are
more in charge of our own happiness than we often believe. When it comes to
struggling with goals it is simpler to view these two forces at war within us
as our rational decision maker vs our desires for instant gratification.
The Dangers of Procrastination
Most of
us given the opportunity and no consequences would be happy whiling away our
time in the instant gratification realm. It just feels good and is often
easier. Unfortunately, as parents this is not something we can or should be
doing. Our children are counting on us to lead and guide them. And so, we
should be rationally foraging on and making decisions to prioritize our time.
Usually having deadlines helps keep us on track.
But what about all the parts of life that don’t truly have a deadline? What about those more long-term things or abstract ideas that we hope to achieve but will never truly have a deadline unless we prioritize and make it so. Get healthier, lose weight, be a better parent, become more financially secure. These are often the things that become our New Years Resolution, but even that isn’t enough for sustainable growth. And then another year goes by and we have some regret, because it feels like we let it slip through our fingers.
Our Goal For This New Year
This life isn’t meant to be lived one new year’s resolution to another. We should not look at the past year and see more failures than successes, or merely wish we had done better. As parents we cannot afford to feel a spectator in our own life. Our time as a parent is so infinitely precious, and short. And our children learn so much more from what we do than what we say.
This year we hope you don’t just
set New Year’s resolutions. We hope you realistically look at the time you hope
to have and set deadlines and prioritize this growth, in whatever area of your
life it may be. Take time to set manageable steps that can be achieved and then
review your progress daily, weekly, and monthly. This is the year we stop
wishing our time away on abstract goals and rather make some concrete changes
that we can reflect on and measurably see a difference.
You’ve got this Warrior parents!
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