quiet, the moment, & intentions

Life is really busy right now. I'm sure it is for everyone. The year is wrapping up, the holidays are approaching, there is a ton to do. Christmas shopping, decorating, baking, Christmas cards, meeting with friends, not to mention a huge holiday party/meeting at work that has a bunch of components to be dealt with.

It's go go go at work and at home. It's enough to leave a girl feeling like she's lost in a whirlwind!

Especially a girl who thrives with quiet. With silence.

As I've mentioned before, I signed up for a weekly inspirational email from Dieter Pauwels, and they always seem to speak right to me. Last week's topic was the importance of making room for quiet in your life. I thought I'd post a bit of it here, in case you are caught up in a whirlwind too.

Dieter says, "Visualize a beautiful lake in the mountains, and imagine looking into the water, watching a reflection of yourself. The image will be undistorted because the water is calm and still.

It is only in quiet waters that things mirror themselves undistorted. It is only within a calm mind that things are reflected as they are, without distortion.

When you quiet down the chatter in your mind, it is then that authentic truth can be found.

Some people find it difficult to make 'quiet time' because of busy routines at work or home. Others are uncomfortable in silence, and tend to fill it up with more noises.

Silence often enhances your perspective and allows you to see, listen, and feel things as they really are. This will expand your understanding and enjoyment of life.

Dieter's messages are always right on. Today's was good, as well. It dealt with living in the moment. Here's a bit:

Dieter says, "We lose the power of the moment because we are so rarely in it. We're reliving the past or speculating about the future. We believe that tomorrow we'll be happier, wealthier, healthier. Meanwhile, we're just putting in time, dreaming of better things but not making any move to realize them.

Try to bring your awareness to the present moment. Really experience how you feel and what is happening around you. Only when you own your present reality can you change.

As December is ticking away, and January approaches, my mind dwells in things like this. Time to get ready to make some changes in the new year. What do I want to better about myself? My life? What resolutions to make? Only I end up with a list of resolutions and none of them are realized. At the end of the year, I read through the list and feel like a failure.

I saw something on Ali Edwards' blog that clicked with me...she is not doing resolutions for the new year. She is going to have intentions instead. Things that she intends to do/improve/change. I am working on what I intend. I am going to have a short list this year, a doable list. A little handful of things that I truly want to better, and that I think I can achieve. I'll be sharing this list before the new year approaches.

Do you guys make resolutions? Do you ever meet them, succeed at them? I'd love to hear. Maybe I'm not the only one out there that continues to fail at them?