Setting Intentions

 So here it is. December 31st, 2023. 2:29am to be exact. 

I lie here awake wondering what I’m going to write about today. Not enough I want to say it seems and not enough inspiration to write a song. Just more midnight thoughts I guess…

I know when it comes to a new year, people like to set resolutions about their jobs, their diets, exercising, relationships, plans for the future etc. etc. Personally, I’ve found that if I’ve ever even taken the time to actually do that, it never really goes anywhere—so I usually don’t. Those well-meant intentions from January 1 usually tend to dwindle into oblivion by February or March. By December of the end of the year, we end up defeated over the lack of progress made throughout a year where we put our best-laid plans on the table. 

All that said, when I saw a post on Facebook from the Suicide Prevention Association (or one similar), about how it’s essentially better to set intentions for each day and take the days as they come and have grace for yourself each day than to make a resolution for the year that you know you probably won’t keep, I thought that was kind of cool. It really stuck out to me as a therapist I guess, but also as a human. Just like—what if instead of saying “I want  to lose weight” or “I want to be a better parent” or “I want to get a better job,” what if we just simply set our intentions at the beginning of each day. It could be through a spiritual act like prayer (which makes sense to me—starting my day off by talking to God). Or for my non-Christian/non-spiritual friends, it could be simply saying “I’m going to try my best today.” It could be saying to yourself, “I’m going to be honest with myself today.” “I’m going to love hard today.” “I’m going to treat myself with respect today.” Whatever it is you need to tell yourself to encourage yourself to start the day off right—that statement or affirmation or intention (whatever you choose to call it) could actually be the catalyst for starting our days off on the right foot. It could even give us the encouragement needed to remember those resolutions that we made at the beginning of the year or the ones we thought about making. Yet, instead of looking back at our year in December and saying “man I can’t believe I didn’t meet my goal or do the thing,” we can say, “wow, every day I woke up and tried.” “Every day I prepared for what was to come in the best way I knew how at the time, and this year, I’ve made progress.” 

It may seem simple. Or maybe even stupid. But that’s the thought that comes to mind when I start to write tonight. So I just thought that might be something I could share with others. 

Don’t set the bar so high that you can never attain it or that you will be kicking yourself when you don’t achieve those goals. Just take small steps—affirm to yourself each day to make it a good one as far it depends on you. And take each day as it comes—day by day, and step by step. That’s a motto I’ve learned to live by in the last few years. And a lesson I realize I need to share with others. A simple reminder—but an important one. 

Happy new year.