Every year, millions of people make New Year’s resolutions, hoping to spark positive change.
The recurring themes each year include a more active approach to health and fitness, improved finances, and learning new things for personal and professional development. Chances are, more than a couple of the top 10 most common resolutions will look familiar to you:
- Exercise more
- Lose weight
- Get organized
- Learn a new skill or hobby
- Live life to the fullest
- Save more money / spend less money
- Quit smoking
- Spend more time with family and friends
- Travel more
- Read more
I think this year I will do something a little different. Rather than list a bunch of things which need to change I will list things I am grateful for . . . the things that are working well (well, relatively well :-) ) in life.
I am grateful that I have a good job that provides me with the income necessary to have a home, a car, food on the table, and the independence to do many of the things I want to do. There are always those dreams that are beyond the means afforded by ANY job but hey, it is good to dream. LOL
I am grateful to live in a democratic country where I can protest things that need to change, where I can vote to change governments that refuse to change, and where I have a level of freedom many in the world lack.
I am grateful for friends who support me and are gentle with me when I am being an ass.
I am grateful that with advancing age I have amassed enough wisdom so that there are fewer and fewer times when I am an ass. :-)
I am most grateful to have an incredible husband who walks with me on every step of our journey.
I am grateful that my mom is still alive and able to add another layer of happiness to our lives.
I am grateful to have witnessed the incredible rise of youth who are perfectly willing and able to speak truth to power. It may be a cliche to say that but there really is no other way to describe what Greta Thunberg, Autumn Peltier, or the Parkland teens are doing. They walk into rooms full of largely older, white men with power and they rip them to shreds for ignoring the various crises facing our world. They are savvy, they are angry, and they aren't taking it any longer.
I'm grateful to be at a point in my life where I can think about retirement and that I have an indexed pension that will allow me to retire and focus on life rather than what I need to do to pay the bills.
I am grateful to live in a country with public health care. Now I haven't been a huge draw on the system up to this point in my life, but I am of an age where that won't be long off. It is comforting that 'can I afford it?' is not one of the health care decisions I need to make.
I am grateful for the gift that is travel. If there is something that opens the mind more to the experiences of others I'm not sure what it is.
I am grateful that I know how to unwind. Throughout my childhood I watched my father suffer from a complete inability to relax. While I have a stressful job and work long hours I also know the things which will feed my soul and help me replenish my energy.
I am grateful for literacy. The ability to read and write enriches my world to such a great extent.
I am grateful to live in a country that has withstood the lure of populism and tribalism . . . don't get me wrong, there are frightening things that we see every day which are a concern, but we have generally not jumped on that bandwagon to the extent that other countries have.