Happy New Year! I’m always a tad sad to say farewell to the passing year, but this time, for the first time, it was nothing but good riddance! 2016 was freaking hard. My family faced massive challenges. I started taking an honest look at myself and changing a lifetime of patterns and perceptions (NOT easy!!).
But a new year feels like a clean slate. It’s a fresh start and most of us want to do life better. This is where we start making a list of resolutions of what we’ll do. But I’ve realized change doesn’t come by deciding what we’ll do. It comes by changing how we think. And to do that, I need more than resolutions. I need a full-on, bulletproof contract with 2017. Maybe you could use one, too. Adjust it to your needs, or use as is.....
BINDING CONTRACT
By and Between Time (“2017”) and Tracy Wilson (“I” or “Me”)
The parties agree as follows:
1. GRATITUDE. I will pause to give thanks every day that God and 2017 offer Me, whether things are going well or it’s a cluster. Every breath is a gift. Gratitude will prevail.
2. ACTIVE SELF LOVE. I will actively love myself by taking care of myself. Not to the point of having a Me first attitude and ignoring the needs of others. But my needs and wants will matter, too. To that end, I will:
a. Take care of my body with exercise and nutritious foods.
b. Take care of my spirit with daily prayer and meditation.
c. Take care of my emotions by considering how I really feel, loving deeply, and recognizing when I’m sinking in a negative interaction, caring for myself enough to excuse myself from it.
3. PROCESS NOT OUTCOME. I will focus fully on the process, rather than fast forwarding and worrying about the outcome.
4. LANE ADHERENCE. I will remember that I can’t make anyone do anything. I can only control my own thoughts, words, actions and reactions. I can only lay healthy boundaries and hold them.
5. VIGOROUSLY PURSUE GOALS. I will set a hard core writing schedule so I can complete the book that is my heart’s work, a story I am compelled to tell because it will fuel dreams.
6. TIME. 2017 agrees to give Me one moment at a time, which it expects Me to savor. 2017 reminds Me that now is all I have and I will treat it with care.
7. ACCOUNTABILITY. I will take a daily inventory when I rest my head at night, applaud myself for the ways I've honored this Contract, and aim to do better in ways I haven't. The goal will be progress, not perfection.
Signed with great intention on this first day of this new year,
Tracy
What's in your contract with time? Hoping 2017 brings you abundant blessings and joy!