Resolutions

The new year is here an no doubt many resolutions have already been broken. It’s human nature to make promises to ourselves that are designed to better us. The problem is that January 1 is just another day. There really isn’t anything magical about it. A resolution doesn’t care the day you make it. The only day that matters is the day you give up on the resolution.

I want to make a resolution. I resolve to put more effort into this blog. I will work harder on new ideas and share them with you. I hope you will share your thoughts with me as well.

Let’s brainstorm resolutions. What are the most common ones people make? Ding ding ding yes if you said lose weight and get in shape you are correct. Those are the by far the two biggest ones made. Eat healthier. Quit smoking. Give to charity. Be a better spouse. A better person. The list is endless. We know where we are lacking and we put a little extra effort to change that. I applaud everyone who tries. It does take guts to admit to ourselves that we are not measuring up. But what are we really saying about ourselves? Are we really digging deep enough and targeting the real issues?

Physical fitness is central to the most common resolutions right? What about emotional fitness? Sounds silly maybe but why not? Really. If we can devise methods to exercise physically and get in better shape why can’t we devise methods to get others area of our lives in shape too? I think we can. And if that is true I would wonder why we don’t try to work on our emotional fitness.

How do we exercise our emotions? I can think of many ways. Loving someone is a good start. I have long believed that love is an action long before it is an emotion. So we can strengthen our emotions for someone by doing things for them. If you are thinking like I am right now you are trying to come up with idea for things. Where do we start? The 5 love languages offer us a solid blueprint on ideas. Gifts. Quality time. Words of Affirmation. Touch. Acts of service. Any of these will start us in the right direction.

While we are filling their tanks with love, we strengthen our emotional “muscle”. The more we do, the easier it becomes. The more we can lift, so to speak. It is tough running that first mile isn’t it? But after trying and trying and trying it becomes easier and easier. Until a mile is a warm up for a real work out. Can’t an emotional workout do the same thing for us? If we start doing things that grow our affection and love for our partner won’t we find ourselves having deeper stronger emotions?

HEARTWORK: Take the first step. Pick 1 of the items. Words of Affirmation for example. Tell your partner they look pretty, or handsome. Tell them you appreciate them, and you are grateful to have them in your life. Tell them that meal they cooked was just amazing. Put a smile on her pretty face. It doesn’t really matter where you start. Just start. Take the first step. Exercise your emotional connection with your partner and resolve to make that a strong and vibrant part of your life.

I think that is a good start for the new year. Start today. Don’t put it off until it becomes another resolution that goes unrealized. The stakes are too high for that to happen.

Oh and let me clear up something. I really am a guy. Honest.

Do you have ideas for working on your emotional fitness? Write me and share. Brainstorminglife@yahoo.com