resolving

unknown source, via pinterest

For me, like for a lot of folks, I think, resolutions = failure.

There's something about getting all caught up in the moment and making all kinds of wild, completely unsustainable, rigidly adhered-to and not very thought-out rules at some arbitrary time of the year.  New Year's Day.  A birthday, maybe.  A random Tuesday.

Lose twenty pounds.
Take up running.
Stop smoking/drinking/being "bad" somehow.
Get a new job/partner/something.

I gave up resolutions for Lent a few years back.  I think it was around the same time I gave up goals.

Which somehow shocks people, by the way, since I have lists of things I want to do, and sometimes, I even call them "goals", for clarity.  Everybody knows what a "goal" is, and can relate.  Saying, "Yeah, well, I have this list of stuff I totally want to do at some point, but it's more of a want to do than an active, rigid kind of thing.  My stuff evolves with testing," sort of elicits a blank stare and an Oh, that's nice reaction instead.

What I really have is a list of adventures I want to take.  

Stuff I want to explore.  Stuff that has deadlines, self-imposed, but flexible ones, because life has a tendency to be weird and unpredictable, and if I'm too busy telling myself I must complete XYZ by such-and-such a date, I'm going to miss the sound of Opportunity whacking its head on my door.

Moreover, a resolution is, by default, resolute.  It's unchangeable.  You will do specifically this (mostly ambiguous) thing, to hell with all the distractions.

For me, the best parts of life are often in the distractions.  

The side-quests, the exploration, the curiosity that leads one down a rabbit hole of magical possibilities you couldn't possibly have considered before you undertook your journey.  Adventure lists evolve in motion.  Begin, and let the map reveal itself.

Does that mean that you sometimes (or often) don't end up where you thought you'd go?  Yep.  Does it mean you sometimes (or often) have much better stories and much deeper knowledge of yourself and the world when you get there?  You betcha.

(It also means, however, that the more traditional will call you a flake, or try to shame you for not "reaching your goals", since they can't even conceive of a world where the adventure is the point.  That's okay.  I can't conceive of a world where adventure isn't the point.  Live and let live, forget the shame; have a cookie.)

How do you see your adventure map?  As a resolution?  A set of goals?  A flexible plan?  A calling?

Where is your divine yes?