A whole new year stretches before us, bringing with it a chance to review where we have been, what we have accomplished and where we want to be.  For many people this  includes resolutions about how to change what we don't like about ourselves or our lives.  We want to be rich and thin and gorgeous and successful and loved and healthy.  So we promise ourselves this year no more smoking or drinking.  We decide to lose those 10 pounds (or 50).  We resolve to read a book each week or call our mothers every  Sunday (This is a good one if my own kids happen to read this!)    We will write that book or get that promotion or quit this job or move to a new location. 

Unfortunately for us, we tend to have this "all-or-nothing"  approach to life.  We think big.  Big houses, big portions, win the lottery, make a million.  When we don't win big, we think we have failed.  We make a resolution for a year or set a goal for life to "never again"  or "from this moment onward" or "for as long as I live".  Really!?  So if you don't, you feel like a failure.  You set yourself up to be disappointed.  Circumstances may change tomorrow (or this afternoon) or on your next trip to the doctor, or with the next phone call.  We claim, we cling, we hoard, we understand, we know, we resolve...forever.  We forget that things change.  Every moment. 

Given this, what can you do now?  This moment.  Today.  There is nothing wrong with having goals.  But the joy is in the journey.  How do you know that your life will be better if you lose 50 lbs?  How do you know that you will be happy if you get that promotion?  Will that big house really make you content?  Can the lottery solve all your problems?  If we strive, focused on a huge goal set at some future date, then we are living in the future (which does not actually exist).  So might that mean that you are not really living if you are living in a time that does not exist?  So what can you do today, this moment, that really does exist, to move yourself in a direction that you want to go? 

If you want to be a better person, you don't have to win the lottery, put a million dollars into a fund and feed a village in Africa.  You can take a few cans of chili to the food bank today.  You can write your estranged brother a letter.  Today.  You can wave ahead the person wanting to merge into your traffic lane.  Today.  You can refrain from gossip.  Today.  You can eat healthy.  Today.  You can take a walk.  Today.  You can refrain from judgment, in this instance.  You can listen attentively to someone you would normally blow off, this time.  You can count to 10 before exploding, in your current situation.  You can refrain from using "always" and "never" in an argument this afternoon.  You can go one day without labeling someone or a group of people as the enemy. 

One minute is all it takes to meditate and breathe slowly and consciously the first time.  Being thankful before a meal today doesn't have to be a production, just a silent acknowledgment.  Gratitude can be practiced moment by moment as thoughts cross your mind.  Rather than thinking of what you need today, practice being thankful for what you already have, who is already in your life.  Do you nurture the relationships you have or do you spend all your time pining for a new one?

We want to change our lives.  But we try to do it by eating the whole elephant in one swallow.  Try slowing down.  Make THIS decision a good one.  Make THAT meal a healthy one.  Make ONE phone call.  Do SOMETHING nice.  Give SOMEONE a break.  Take ONE MINUTE to relax.  Balance THIS checkbook.  Pay ONE bill.  Tomorrow will take care of itself.  Living well in the moment means you cannot fail.

Breathe in deeply and breathe out slowly.  This is your moment.  This is your day.  This is your year.

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