Well, it's Jan 19th, and according to the New York Times article "The Only Way to Keep Your Resolutions," by David DeStento, professor of psychology at Northeastern University, for those of us who made New Year's Resolutions, already 25% have fallen by the wayside. I recommend reading it yourself, but here is my summary … using willpower and self-control to force yourself to keep your resolutions doesn't work, and in fact can be damaging to your health and well being. Yea, you read that right.
What his lab studies found is that there are three things that positively affect our ability to keep our resolutions. They are gratitude, compassion, and a true sense of pride.
Having practiced the Soul Sync Meditation, I have found so much in this article to be true. In the last part of this meditation, you visualize a solution to a problem or the realization of a true desire. You visualize it happening to you now and you feel the joy or gratitude or pride or connection in the present moment. It's matches all the things written in DeStento’s article.
I find now that life seems so much simpler. I don't feel like I "force myself" to do things. I'm not getting disappointed in myself and mainly life just flows and things get done, sometimes magically. I used to think that all the stress I created for myself helped me reach my goals, but now I see that all the stress I created only robbed me of my ability to see solutions and possibilities and feel joy. Its fun to see these types of articles backing up what I've already found to be true.
(Note: Every day, or let's say at least most days, I write a post about something I have seen or thought about as it relates to relationships and what I've learned over the last couple years with OWA. Then, each Wednesday night at 7:00 pm (EST) I cover one topic very specific supporting meditations ... To help me out, I would so appreciate it if you would click on the heart at the bottom of this post if this is something you think people would be interested in learning more about, so I can add it to my Wednesday line up. Thank you.)
Comments