The Lowe Down

New Year’s Resolutions - A Recipe for Success - Gerard Lowe

People spend a lot of time around this time of year thinking about how they can improve themselves. Some try to quit smoking or lose weight while others vow to complete a long forgotten project or save for something special such as a trip down south or a new snowmobile. The problem with New Year=s resolutions is that we set ourselves up for failure. Think of the many resolutions you have made through the years and divide the total number of successes by the number of attempts. The number you will arrive at such as .25 can be written as a percentage that indicates your success rate. I suspect that the number will be very low. Why set yourself up for that disappointment again?  Here are some New Year=s resolutions that may be easier to complete successfully and will make you feel much better about yourself.

1. Vow to do some good this year. That would be good that goes above and beyond your job or family situation. Our society has become very complacent and we tend to become desensitized to the things that happen around us. There are thousands of people in our province who are poor and hungry. There are equally as many who can=t read or are shut in with no assistance or family. What can you do to make the life of another much happier? Think of people in your own community who could benefit from your time and generosity. Say hello to someone who is a loner. Shovel the driveway of an elderly person. The simplest things in life are those that can fill you with happiness and health.

2. Seek guidance for those things in your life that burden you and make you less than the person you can be. The most natural human response is to try and cope alone. If you have been hurt in your life or feel emptiness that you can=t quite seem to fill, seek out the help of others. Carrying the weight of hurt or stress is not much different than that of a hundred pound sack of flour. Eventually your mind weakens and the body sags under the stress. Your spirit becomes dimmed and sickness ensues. We only think of sickness in terms of physical aches and pains. When you are stressed and burdened by the weight of hurt or dwell on your mistakes, the mind is less than healthy and life is not well lived. We all have a story to tell of overcoming hardships in our lives. Seeking assistance for what burdens you can be no harder than opening your mouth and speaking of what ails your spirit and burdens your soul. Whether your stress is a result of something you have done or failed to do or you have been treated unfairly, vow to take back the power to be more healthy by resolving the

Gerard Lowe is a Teacher living in Corner Brook. He can be reached by e-mail at toutons@hotmail.com