Designed for change

New Year’s resolutions came up as my daughter and I visited. 

Neither of us has resolutions to make (or break) as we compared notes.

Maybe this means we’ve learned from experience (also called “the hard way”) that resolutions can be tough to keep.

Commit to what you intend to do puts a price tag on resolutions we give our names to. 

Resolutions ask honesty of us to stay in the running. Yearly intentions aren’t for wimps. 

Resolutions aren’t keen on our tendency to look for wiggle room on ideas that sounded good but come with snags in the execution thereof.

This year my daughter and I are off the hook as far as resolutions. Nevertheless it’s well to approach January more specifically than other months. 

January is symbolic of all the new starts or renewed intentions there are to make. It's the canvas on which we establish the designs that become the signature of our new year. 

Common sense tells us we should do more with a fresh start than simply celebrate beforehand on New Year’s Eve.

My plan is to take insights gained this year as advice for mindful living in 2014.

When we’re mindful of some lesson learned, and apply its wisdom to present circumstances, or lay it carefully aside for the future, we create a fund of personal wealth which is sure to pay ongoing dividends. 

Each new year becomes richer for what we collect along the way. We change by what we change. We change, as well, by what we let ourselves be changed.

The notations below, entered into my personal journal over the course of 2013, are among insights that will cross over to 2014 with me. 

It’s amazing what someone else’s interests can do for your own.   (January 2013)

Tend to what matters.  (January 2013)

It takes action to get action.  (January 2013)

Risk often gives way to reward.   (April 2013)

How you do things says a lot about how you regard things.  (April 2013)

Open your heart to those who value it.  (May 2013)

Experience leads us to new places.  (May 2013)

You always see something interesting when you travel a new road.  (June 2013)

Your dreams are the future but it’s the present where you have to be.  (August 2013)

Often it’s the small things we remember the longest and with deepest appreciation.  (October 2013)

Luck is sometimes crazy good fortune. Luck can be like that. It’s just as apt to happen when you lay the foundation for it. Luck likes it when you’re prepared for it.  (November 2013)

Live the moment, let the hard days pass, expect good ahead and always appreciate the time given to you.  (December 2013)

Ro Giencke

December 30, 2013