Resolution Part 2

res·o·lu·tion /rezəˈlo͞oSH(ə)n/

noun

a firm decision to do or not to do something
the action of solving a problem, dispute, or contentious matter

A New Year’s resolution is a tradition, most common in the Western Hemisphere but also found in the Eastern Hemisphere, in which a person resolves to change an undesired trait or behavior.

Helpful Guidelines to Achieve Success ~

Set reasonable goals. Start with very, very small steps. Setting small goals can make success easier to achieve and limit the chances of giving up.
Build up, don’t burn out. The initial zeal of setting a new goal can at first be exhilarating, then exhausting, then result in a dull fade over time. Be motivated but you’ve got to have continuity. Take it slow and gradually increase the commitment over time.
Be willing to embrace a new lifestyle. People who achieve their new year’s goals do not commit to change in isolation but rather embrace a lifestyle change. It really has to be a holistic approach to all your life. Mindfulness, being aware of consequences of actions, is a key piece to sticking to any goal. Be mindful of your day-to-day actions as well as everything that has meaning in your life.

I took on the resolution of a lifetime in 2009 – the vow to reclaim myself from a life-destroying addiction to crack-cocaine. A monumental task, to say the least, but my approach was not that different from how others might take on more popular, more mainstream, resolutions.

Build up, don’t burn out . . . take it slow and gradually increase the commitment over time . . .

On my ninetieth day drug-free, I felt strong enough to start putting together a more focused plan for lasting recovery. It required me to first retrace my steps to see whether I could identify precisely where and why I previously failed. Returning to dope was not an option so that wasn’t going to happen. But I had to get things right this time. I knew I couldn’t survive another relapse. Simply put, I had to put my recovery first – before everyone and everything.

I began making a mental inventory of everything and everyone I had sacrificed to my addiction. Had it been an actual in-store inventory, every bit of space in that condo would have been packed in, floor to ceiling. I had behaved horribly and made myself, and everyone around me, miserable. Memories of that time, especially its collapse, were still fresh. But while a day still didn’t go by that I didn’t think about dope, now I didn’t miss it. Excruciating as they were, my memories helped me understand that I had become entirely disgusted with and exhausted by crack long before I was able to quit. So, point one – there would be no going back.

Point two – I would start running again. That not only sped me on my way to a healthy lifestyle, it offered abundant moments of clear thinking and opportunities for daily meditation. Once I hit my stride, I lost myself in the rhythm and ran for miles and miles. Free of clutter and noise, I started to gain better insight. Still, I had a lot to figure out. So I ran every day, some days twice.

There were still plenty of moments when I questioned whether and how I could keep all this up. But I always ended with the same resolve. Though my future was uncertain, I wouldn’t have one at all if I didn’t remain committed to the path I had chosen. If I was going to have any chance of success this time, I had to figure out why I had failed so often in the past. Staying clean and putting my life back together would have to be a process, not an event.

I made real progress during the next few months, marked by small steps. Realizing how much work I had ahead of me, I repeatedly had to remind myself to move slowly and always hopefully. I not only wanted to be clean, I wanted to understand what it meant to be truly happy.

~ Excerpt from Cracked . . . Not Broken

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