The New Year is a time for resolutions and change. We want to lose weight, quit smoking, sleep less (or more), take better care of ourselves, our families, our friends. We resolve to "fix" ourselves. And beat our selves up if when we can't make our goals then resign it to next year.
As I experience more of people around me (I grew up pretty much in isolation) I see that people tend to go through life sleep walking - not conscious of their actions, words, and attitude. People don't pay attention to the cars next to them on the road when they're driving, they don't stop and think about being considerate to another person, they even misuse words without thinking because they heard someone else say it. The regional colloquialism in Maryland is "Stop being ignorant to me." Or "Well, did the store clerk get ignorant at you?"
The first time I heard this I had no idea what my friend meant. Was the store clerk ignorant at me? Well he probably wasn't the brightest person I encountered that day, but I thought he was just being lazy and didn't want to help me. Turns out, in Maryland, ignorant means rude. I'm still not sure how they came up with that one, but it's something I'm going to have to get used to it or else shove a dictionary in front of everyone.
I guess what my point is in this ramble is simple:
Even though we love sheep for their wool because they give us yarn, let's not be sheep ourselves. Let's wake up from our sleep walking, pay more attention to those around us, drive with love and consideration, be tolerant of older people that are just a tad bit slower than us (we'll be them someday), show kindness to children so they can learn through our actions instead of our words, do deep breathing and ohm instead of getting mad, choose our thoughts, words, and actions with wisdom, love, and gentleness.
Once we throw the consciousness lightbulb, the other petty things that we resolve to do naturally fall into place. If we open ourselves up to unconditional love of ourselves, then the diet works and the weight falls off. Because if we love ourselves, we know that the broccoli is a better food for us than the Twinkie, and since we love ourselves we will not put the Twinkie in our body. If we are conscious of our actions, then the first drag on that cigarette may not happen. If we pay attention to the cars around us, that it's not good to tailgate, but pull up to the car in front of you to keep the intersection clear and realize that people around you have a place to
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