I love jewelry but I seldom wear or purchase expensive things because I have a tendency to lose them.This is especially the case with earrings.Perhaps I should work on that.Oh well, that isn’t the point right now.Here’s the point.When I lose an earring it can be annoying because I am stuck with one earring and I am not going to wear one without the other.That is just me.The sight of the matchless earring just makes me sad or upset.I hate to keep it around.On the other hand, I can’t immediately chuck the single earring because the lost one could turn up.In fact, this has happened a few times recently.
A couple weeks back, I lost an earring.It wasn’t valuable but I liked these earrings and got compliments on them.”Uggh,” I thought, “here we go again.” I dreaded the sight of the lonely earring but I kept it around because the other could turn up.That is what happened with another pair that I love and I am grateful I held out.After a couple days I was close to throwing the single earring away. “No,” I thought, “give it a little more time.” So I did.
The following week I lost a pendant.It was my favorite one, in fact.At this point, I am angry.I am angry at myself for being such a dumb ass. “Well maybe it’s in the car somewhere, I’ll check there,”I said to myself.I went into the car, dug around, looked on the floor, and under the seat.
Wait,what’s this?
Lo and behold, it was my long, lost earring.Okay, so I didn’t find the pendant but I found the earring which was cause for celebration in itself.I am glad I kept the other one.
There’s a moral here.
It can be tough to hang on to one earring, waiting for the other to turn up.It can be like that in life.We experience a loss ,set back or disappointment and want to throw in the towel.We lose hope.
A couple posts back in “Commitments and Setbacks”, I talked about marathon training.I got behind and wanted to give up but decided to stick it out.I decided to just focus on finishing the race and commit to the training, regardless of the outcome.My running began to improve as a result.Lo and behold, the marathon was cancelled because of bad weather.Whoa! When does that ever happen? I am planning to run in New Orleans in February, as many Memphis runners are.We were given the option of transfering our registration.Now I have more time to train than expected. The thing is, if I didn’t already commit to the training with the intention of running in December, it wouldn’t really have helped.I would have been back to square one.It would have been like throwing away the other earring.
With 2013 coming to a close, I am reviewing the year and setting intentions for the New Year.I keep a journal so I thought I might pull out an old one, just for a laugh, to see what last year’s resolutions looked like.HMMM…..
Okay, a couple things last year would look a little like what I would write this year, with a few revisions.For one thing, last January I gave up drinking alcohol for 30 days.That was less of a resolution and more of a challenge.Did I do it? I most certainly did.Was it sucessful then? Yes and no.It was a good test of discipline but it really didn’t seem to make much of a difference.After the 30 days in January, I decided to give up gluten in February and THAT was the ticket.Other than a few mishaps, I have been gluten free and it’s made a big difference.It was kind of an unexpected victory.I would still like to cut back on alcohol, though.
Another was practicing guitar every day.Okay so I didn’t keep with that BUT I started taking lessons, practicing more regularly, and seeing improvement so there was that.This year I would like to continue.
Last year I said I wanted to have a green smoothie every day.I didn’t stick with that BUT I did get my juicer up and running again and started having juices as well as the occasional smoothie.This year, I have already decided on more raw food in my diet.I just made some sprouted lentil salad and picked up some spirulina as well.
I said I wanted to do yoga everyday whether in class or at home.I didn’t do that BUT I started running again and training for a marathon.It has cut into my yoga practice some so I hope to balance it out more this year.Nevertheless,I know running a marathon (and training for one) has been on a resolution list somewhere at sometime.
I guess you could say that I am seeing a pattern.Things didn’t go exactly as planned but I made improvements.It wasn’t a total loss.It wasn’t a failure.I can actually learn from what worked and what didn’t.Some people say that making New Year’s Resolutions is a waste of time and you shouldn’t do them.I disagree.I DO think you should keep them recorded somewhere so you can review what you did.In my case it was really an eye opener.More often than not, people give up on their resolutions when they don’t go as planned.I think it’s important to start the New Year looking at what went right instead of what went wrong.Even if it wasn’t a resolution, I am sure everyone can look over the past year and see that there were positive changes and growth.
This year I want to “tighten up” last years goals and maybe add a few more.I will continue with what I already have done and build on it.
Take it from me, don’t throw away the earring.Hold on just a little longer.It could still turn up.Learn from mistakes, make adjustments, and don’t give up just yet.If you failed in previous years, ask yourself why.Maybe you suceeded somewhere else, somewhere unexpected.
Keep the faith.
Happy New Year!!