Resolve

I’ve never been one to announce that I have a New Year’s resolution.  It seems that anything worthy of that degree of focus and commitment should be decided upon at the time it is needed and not because the clock just struck midnight and we flipped yet another page on the calendar.  That being said, I do love seeing things like the renewed interest in fitness and diet at the New Year that strikes the masses – even though it has caused me a bit of stress these past few weeks when trying to find an open lane in which to swim.

Several years ago, however, I wrote a personal mission statement.  Sort of a resolution to be a better person moving forward.  It was written mid-year during a particularly challenging time that I was having.  Initially, it was an assignment for a leadership training course.  But, unlike many other countless assignments I have completed because I “had to”, I took this one more seriously.  I pieced it together from statements and missions that I have run across over the years.  From my own thoughts on what is important and the person I want to be.

It’s flawed.  Every time I read it, I think of something else I might have included or worded differently.  Reading it reminds me that I’m also flawed and have to continue to work towards achieving the items listed.  But reading it also reminds me of and refreshes my resolve.  Resolve to be a better person, to serve others and to be a good mother.  It doesn’t contain the word resolution or resolve, but it does contain the word WILL many times.  Reading that mission statement reminds me of my determination to be positive and to be a better person regardless of the date on the calendar.

PERSONAL MISSION STATEMENT

I will be a citizen of the world.

I will contribute more than I receive.

I will be accountable to my family and to the community in which we live.

I will be open to possibilities and will avoid the downward spiral of negative thinking.

I will live a full life.

I will teach my children to be successful members of society.

Through actions more than words, I will value and promote honesty, integrity, fairness, equality, and tolerance.

 I will live my life so, that when I die, the world cries and I rejoice.


 

Still Waters and Amazing Peace

I don’t normally find myself at the pool on a Saturday evening, but today it just worked out that way.  There were a few kids playing in the shallow end when I arrived but then, after about 20 minutes, everyone left the pool.  No one else in or around the pool except for two lifeguards and me.  Swimming in a large pool solo was an unexpected gift on a day that I was feeling a little crazy and a lot stressed.  The holiday season is in full swing with our family and a day hasn’t gone by over the past week that I haven’t had a heavy heart for the schoolchildren that were gunned down last week in Connecticut – that I haven’t wondered whether or not I’m doing enough to keep my own 6 year old safe.

The water was perfectly still until I sliced my hand through it out in front for each stroke.  I could look up ahead and see yards of still water ahead waiting to be moved.  The water was quiet;  I could hear it sloshing over my head and ears to the rhythm of my stroke.  When there is no one else in the water, I can fully concentrate on my stroke, the way my body rotates, feeling the resistance of the water as my hands pull their way through it.  I needed that quiet water tonight.   I needed the repetition of following that black line at the bottom of the pool back and forth – no craziness, no chaos, no one else making waves.  After a good workout in that water, I felt centered, calm, and a little more at peace than I was just hours before.  I hope you also can find Still Waters during this turbulent time.

As I was cooling down at the end of that workout, I started thinking of one of my favorite poems by Maya Angelou – she wrote it for a White House Christmas tree lighting ceremony several years ago and it is timeless and better than any Holiday greeting I could send you…..

AMAZING PEACE by Maya Angelou

In our joy, we think we hear a whisper.
At first it is too soft.   Then only half heard.
We listen carefully as it gathers strength.
We hear a sweetness.
The word is Peace.
It is loud now.
Louder than the explosion of bombs.

We tremble at the sound.
We are thrilled by its presence.
It is what we have hungered for.
Not just the absence of war.   But true Peace.
A harmony of spirit, and comfort of courtesies.
Security for our beloveds and their beloveds.

We, Angels and Mortals, Believers and Nonbelievers,
Look heavenward and speak the word aloud.
Peace.  We look at each other, then into ourselves,
And we say without shyness or apology or hesitation:

Peace, My Brother.
Peace, My Sister.
Peace, My Soul.