Practicing Mindfulness: My Resolution

It's a frigid New Year's day, and I am home sitting in my fluffy blue bathrobe drinking strong coffee.  I just read part of my book, after savoring my yummy rice pudding for breakfast.  My family is sleeping in the bedroom, and my dog is sleeping below my chair.  This feels good.

My New Year's resolution for this year reflects my current mindset of simplification.  I have always been a proponent of simplifying in life, but sometimes I lose sight of this.  Like Emerson and Thoreau, I would like my commitments to be limited to a few, and ones that I've chosen, not ones that have been chosen for me.  Our lives are truly frittered away by detail. 

So this year, I have one resolution:  to be more mindful.  I want to consistently be aware of myself and make smart decisions about my time and actions.  If I sit back to think and feel more deeply, I inevitably come to the same ideas about what I want and need to do for my happiness. 

So I want to be mindful.  Pay attention to myself.  Be gentle with myself.  Be happy. 

Happy New Year!