Sundays With Buddha

   (Image courtesy of  Sierra Club. Check out their "9 Sacrifice Free Resolutions" Here)
  





Easy to do are things that are bad and harmful to oneself. But exceedingly difficult to do are things that are good and beneficial.
                                                                                       --Buddha



Week 38


Just in time for all of these resolutions we like to promise ourselves we will follow through with this year, here is a quote that seems to suggest even the Ancients might have wanted to get a jump on the new year, but realized the difficulty we often face.

It's hard to change, though we've all made the challenge to ourselves many times over, and we are not alone. Here is TIME.com's top 10 most commonly broken New Year's Resolutions (2012).   I bet we have all promised at least one (or 5) of these to ourselves over the years; I know I have. We all want to do better and we all wish and intend to succeed. But, as this quote indicates, it's much easier to do all the "bad" stuff, like eating what we know we really shouldn't, putting off the exercise until tomorrow, drinking too much, staying out too late, spending too frivolously, or allowing too much stress into our lives.

Being lazy and complacent is easy. Eating take-out instead of cooking a decent meal is easy. Ignoring our financial responsibilities is easy. The longer we "put off until tomorrow" the harder it it becomes to break bad habits and incorporate more productive ones into our lives. Almost all the things that are good and beneficial to us take work to accomplish.

Finding the strength to devote ourselves to healthful eating and proper exercise is work. If willpower was easy to come by, we'd all be doing it with ease. Being diligent with our money is also hard work. Telling ourselves "no" is difficult. Giving to charity instead of spending money on that much desired 'thing' is a very difficult endeavor, indeed, for most. Opening ourselves up to faith and spirit for the sake of our spiritual health and well-being is a big change for some, as is asking for help or delegating responsibilities when we need time to ourselves to reduce our stress.

If doing everything good for us was easy, we'd all be 'perfect' and never need improving. But that isn't always the case. It takes commitment, hard work, struggle and a lot of dedication to keep at it. While we may get down on ourselves for not finishing our resolutions, I say keep making them. It's ok to dream, as big as you can. And it's ok to fail. Just keep trying. Maybe 2014 will be your year to accomplish all your resolutions. ;)

Here's to a great year to come.

Namaste

Nanette