RISING ABOVE 2025 SELVES - NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS
2025-12-30
1. MAKE IT POSITIVE
2. TINY, MICRO INCREMENTS
3. STOP BEING A VICTIM OF MY UNWANTED IMPULSES
These are suggestions I am taking to heart from Professor Arthur Brooks. New Year Resoloutions go way back to ancient times. I want to make them positive with approach goals and mostly learning to manage the inside of my head. This needs to be reinforced with sharing and developing deeper friendships; especially for me, with the loss of Sam and my lonliness.
Personally, I'm approaching year 87 and with my good health, I want to think about continuing to live well for the next decades of my life having lunch with friends and maybe even driving myself. Dr John Scharffenberg is 100-yrs-old, still drives, and travels alone around the world lecturing. Therefore, in March of 2025, I reinstated daily walking around Mercerdale Park. I made it to 3 rounds and my goal for 2026 is to be able to do 4 without my back ache. I also want to continue daily lifting 15 pounds 5 times until it becomes easy. The rest of our household have no problems with exercise.
Secondly, I will continue to avoid caffeine after 12 noon, suggested by Andrew Huberman, Stanford Neuroscientist, for better sleep. Also for better quality sleep I plan to write 5 things for which I'm grateful in the planner I got in my Santa stocking. I take a hot bath every night and during that period of meditation, I will think over my day; looking for new micro-perspectives. Then, before turning out the light, I will write 5 gratitude thoughts.
As far as my resolution for household togetherness is concerned, I have learned in 2025 to use the suggestions of Jefferson Fisher, "Respond to negative comments with first a big breath." And most of the time, I just say nothing more.
Finally, a big word I have to look up the meaning for, is TRANCENDANCY, which I heard from Tim Ferris's suggestions of mood management and self talk. Like Actor and writer Mathew McConaughey suggests, "reach for excellence, greatness, spiritual and be excited about the few increments achieved."
I want progress, not getting to the destination, with struggle and suffering if necessary. The famous story of the preschoolers who waited and got a second marshmellow is my example. I've written: "Pursuing Happierness and Trancendency while sharing the love and deepening relationships", as my 2026 RESOLUTION!