2013

Happy New Year!

2012 Was a year of realisation for me. I experienced highs and lows but made real progress towards becoming a better person, I hope to continue moving on this path, so that I can help others and to achieve greater satisfaction and peace in my own life.

With that said the first new experience of 2013 will be to make some New Years resolutions. I have never made resolutions before but I like the idea of making a determination to make positive decisions. I also like the fact that through my blog I can share these determinations, further cementing my resolve to stick to the.

Five resolutions for 2013:

• Be more mindful, live in the moment: I am often guilty of hanging on to past glories and failings or obsessing over my future aspirations. I hope that this year I am able to be more mindful and present. Through meditation, yoga and studying Buddhism I have begun to see the benefits of developing a mind in the present. I hope to savour the moment, to stop comparing everything to moments past, or my ideals of how things should be. I want use mindfulness to help me find the pleasure and happiness in each moment and to help others find happiness and relief from suffering. I want to avoid the frustrations I bring on myself. I do not expect it to be the year I achieve true enlightenment and never-ending patience, but it will be a year devoted to practicing; through meditation, yoga, prayer and showing others the compassion they deserve, I hope that by having kindness in my heart and focusing on the here and now I can make the world a better place. This does not mean I will forget the past, I just won’t dwell on it and it does not mean that I won’t have ambitions, it just means that I will work to make them a reality in the moment and should a surprise scupper my plans, I will try to see the opportunities the surprise presents rather than what it spoils.
• Stepping off the consumer wagon: This year more than ever I am determined to stop buying things I don’t need. I really want to reduce my imprint on the earth and remove some of the complicated clutter from my life. From now on my intention is to purchase 2nd hand goods wherever possible, to exchange items rather than cash, to purchase as much of my food and household supply’s from small local shops as possible, to grow and forage as much food as possible and to recycle and up-cycle to meet my needs. These things not only reduce my impact on the world but they make life more interesting and fun as-well!
• A sketch a Day: I have always loved drawing and art but in recent years I have really let things slip, this saddens me. I have decided that I need to find a new way to motivate and inspire myself. In 2013 I hope to produce a sketch a day and will use the facebook page to display them. Once published this post will force me to keep my pencils sharp and help me to sharpen my rusty sketching skills. As a child I hoped to become an artist, as I grew this dream like many others died. One of my once favourite pastimes became a memory, I hope to resuscitate my creativity!
• Handmade Gifts: I have nothing but disdain for the consumer lifestyle. In my life my most treasured gifts were those made with love; the glitter covered cards from my sisters, the gorgeous if sum what monstrous birthday cakes created by my wife and the baking and meals lovingly prepared by my Mum and Nana. Every year masses of novelty gifts are carelessly bought and even more carelessly discarded. This year I will custom make every Birthday present, every gift card and every Christmas gift. I hope that this will help me to really show those I love how much I appreciate them, I hope to develop new skills and to enjoy making them as much as I hope they will enjoy receiving them. This is not a scrimping exercise, in fact I expect to spend at least as much money and will definitely have to invest more time and energy to pull this off, but it will be worth it!
• Memory Jar: I have to give credit to my wife for this one, we are going to get a large glass jar and whenever notable moments occur, we will make a note of them and pop them in the jar. Hopefully by the end of the year we will have a jar filled with memories to reflect upon and enjoy. I expect this jar to capture our laughter and tears and to help capture the little moments in life that are often forgotten, but worth remembering!

You may notice a lack of outdoor related resolutions, i have not abandoned my love of all that is outdoors, it is beyond a hobby it is part of me and as such my outdoor adventure ideas for 2013 require more than this post can deliver. So my focus here has been other lifestyle refinements.

I hope to share with you how I fair with these challenges, I will be honest and open with any indiscretions, but hopefully you can help me stay true to them. Perhaps you can inspire me to find other worthwhile resolutions to follow!

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