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  Being a Beginner

  Jan 31, 2019

  It is the end of the first month of 2019 and we are fast approaching that line in the sand that marks when many of us give up on our New Year’s resolutions.  Depending on the sources, most of us have either already abandoned our resolutions or very close to doing so.  It also appears that the older we are the harder it is to develop new habits.  I guess us older folks have had more years to really embed those no longer wanted habits into our psyche.

  I came across an interesting acronym for the challenges faced when trying to make changes in our lives.  The acronym is CLIFF and it breaks down as follows:

       C an’t find the time.  Developing a new habit takes more thought and time.  Oh yeah, it isn’t a habit yet!

       L ack of a plan to keep focused on the goal

       I gnore your commitment to your goal and reverting back to old habits.  They are much easier, you know.

       F rustration due to unrealistic expectations of quick results

       F orgetting exactly why you wanted to change your habit(s)

  This sounds familiar, doesn’t i?.

  I have often wondered what makes us “fall off the cliff” as why try to change our habits.  It occurred to me that we need to restory what we tell ourselves about making new habits so that we stay energized and committed.

  This is where the mindfulness concept of “beginner’s mind” can really help us out.  Some of us don’t have the patience to be a true beginner.  We want to experience results now and look for all types of shortcuts to get us to the end result and the wonder why the end result isn’t what we expected.

  When I think of beginner’s mind, I think of being okay with not knowing and of having the curiosity to really explore and savor the experience along the way to whatever goal you are trying to achieve.  When you are a beginner, mistakes are allowed.  It is the mistakes that provide the learning that lasts.  But, many of us have learned to abhor mistakes and to expect perfection RIGHT NOW. 

  Beginning is a time when there are many possibilities; especially if you are curious.  Because the “rules” haven’t been learned yet, boundaries aren’t there to confine you.  Think of beginning as a fearLESS time when the need for rules and limits and perfection have not settled into your bones yet.

  So, take a few moments and close your eyes.  Breathe deeply in an unhurried manner.  Make space for beginning.  As you continue to breathe in this unhurried manner, reflect on the possibilities of beginning.  Open your mind and your heart to the energy of being curious and of not having preconceived boundaries already established in your mind.  Open yourself to be willing to make mistakes; knowing this is a learning process.  Feel yourself relax into that process and savor that feeling..  Take a deep breath.  Open your eyes.  And . . . BEGIN

  Live an inspired life.

  Michele

   

  https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2016/02/09/new-study-reveals-how-long-new-years-resolutions-usually-last/

  https://nypost.com/2018/12/21/new-years-resolutions-last-exactly-this-long/

  Image; emiliegerard/Adobe Stock

  Tags: habits, resolution, learn, Beginner's mind, curiosity, make space

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