At this time of year, I watch with bemusement as the gym fills and the contents of people’s grocery cart moves from cookies to carrots. And, just like the countdown to midnight, I can count down the days until the gym is much less crowded. Typically the number of days is less than 30.
In the next few days, resolutions will be made and most will be broken. And once broken, typically abandoned. That is why this year I’m re-framing this process from making “resolutions” to setting “intentions”. Let me tell you why.
To resolve is to “make a firm decision about”. Alternative definitions include “to change or convert” or “to bring to an end”. The connotation with resolutions is an either/or that is combined with great force and discipline in order to move from one state of being into another – often quite disparate states – like from fat to skinny.
I’ve learned the process of setting intentions through yoga, and I like that process much better. There, you visualize an aim and then keep that intention in mind. However, there is ever present the wisdom that attaining your intention is a slippery slope, that it is easy to get off track and that the work of realizing an intention requires diligence, sustained practice and awareness. At the end of practice you recall and review your intention.
My yoga intention almost never varies – to be fully present on the mat. Being physically present is easy – mentally present extraordinarily difficult. So when my mind wanders off the mat to my “to do” list or the current thing I am wrestling with or to any of the other millions of places other than my mat, I merely notice and refocus.
The dictionary defines intention as “a course of action that one plans to follow” or an “aim that guides action toward an aim or goal”. Intentions seem to me, to be more focused on a higher purpose, more fluid in their realizations, and more forgiving of the process it takes to transform.
So this year, I resolve to stop making resolutions. Instead, I plan to set meaningful intentions and purposefully practice the actions that support them. I intend to forgive myself when I fall short. And when I do, I will reset my focus, over and over and over again, knowing that transformation happens with the right actions repeated over time.
