2009 Determinations (the short list)

January 1st, 2009; 11:03 PM 

Current mood:contemplative

Those of you who know me well, know that at New Years, I make a list of 100 determinations for the upcomming year. I am still working on it. I have some more deep thinking to do. And I might tweak this short list of determinations too. But until the long list is complete...here's a preview of the top 10 list. I've done it a little bit differently this time by actually writing about the determination sometimes..and expanding where I normally wouldn't. Here it is:

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2009 Determinations

1. To have a positive attitude that leads to happiness and the achievement of all of my determinations. Viewing events and situations in a positive light is important. The strength, wisdom, and cheerfulness that accompany such an attitude lead to happiness. To regard everything in a positive light or with a spirit of goodwill, however, does not mean being foolishly gullible and allowing people to take advantage of our good nature. It means having the wisdom and perception to actually move things in a positive direction by seeing things in their best light, while all the time keeping our eyes firmly focused on reality.
2. Some people in my life have had contemptuous feelings and behavior towards me, and derisive things to say about me (particularly when I am not in the room.) -I want to break through this. Once and for all, I want to change my karma so that this is not a lasting thing, or a definition of my/their character. I would like to make peace where there is hate. And a friendship where there is currently a stranger or enemy. Is that possible? I'm not sure yet? And as such...it does seem that I am lacking in the "determination" part of this exercise...but I'll give this one more thought. I really do have a short list of people that I would like to foster and develop peace, compassion, appreciation, love, warmth, camaraderie, and friendship with. And in the spirit of bravery (aka...naming what you want in clear unabashed terms) I am naming some names: Oshyan, Marika, Becky, Uncle Bob, Rayonna, Joshua, Austin, and Mick. On the upside...this list is getting shorter every year. Yay shorter list!
3. My happiness and health.
4. My Momavarious's happiness and health.
5. To discipline my mind to be calm and positive.
6. To have a house that rises up to greet me and my friends, and is imbued with charm, elegance, style, and warmth. I want my home to be a place that people love to spend time at!
7. Declutter and organize. I mean streamlined baby!
8. Make more money.
9. Dedicate at least 80% of my energy to things/people/places that are positive for me. Basically...I've noticed a trend, whereby I exert an unacceptable amount of energy on people who are not nice to me, relationships that are not good for me, my own negative thoughts about others or the world in general, just that dog-eat-dog mentality that I would really like to extricate myself from. I think it's really true that we develop those things that we put energy and focus on. And although I am NOT advocating ignoring problems (see 2 was all about NOT ignoring problems) I also do not want to make them the primary focus of my life. I want to check it out and see..what life will be like if I make myself reward the good in my life. And put my energy primarily towards things which are good for me and to me.
10. Be financially responsible.