Grateful Resolutions

Ah, the first few days of 2010 -- many people think, time to make annual resolutions!

It would be a good idea to observe yourself and your thinking if you are going to set about making and fulfilling resolutions.

Are you saying you will accomplish the resolution "sometime this year"? Be specific! Yet remember, what we call "the future" can only be in your thought. Be aware always of the Now that is all there is, and be surprised at what appears to happen.

Are you trying to "fix" yourself, make yourself "better" (or worse yet, subtly make somebody else "better" in your resolution)? Do it with love, as Love! Could God, or the divine Principle, or a Higher Power, be disgusted with Itself, impatient with Itself, think Itself incomplete? Know now the Perfection of your true nature as Love, magically seen wearing a human garment. Then work with "everything you've got" to do your very best.

Finally, be grateful for your intention. Be grateful now for its accomplishment, although it seems not to have materialized yet. Give thanks before the blessing (and find there's a blessing right now)!

One method for offering your thanksgiving (as well as to fulfill that resolution to get more exercise) is to walk, in every weather and in every season. Appreciate the details: the sky and the changing angle of the sunlight; the subtle fragrances that accompany each season; the stalwart trees; the sound of a particular bird.

If you're walking indoors (some people recommend a large shopping mall), then use all your senses to appreciate your surroundings.

Then praise as you walk, or as you go about your daily tasks: "Glory be to Thee, O Infinite One! I rejoice in Thy beauty, Thy majesty, Thy magnificence! I thank Thee for Thy omnipotent Presence and all that flows therefrom! I thank Thee for Thy unceasing abundance, Thy grandeur, Thy awesome radiance! I rejoice in the perfect, all-enfolding Love that IS!

Such exclamations soon fill you up with a most wonderful and happy glow and a state perfect for rejoicing in the already-presence of your intention accomplished.

Another great "sound-track" to play in your mind as you walk is to repeat words and/or music of hymns of thanksgiving you may have learned in your house of worship. Or memorize simple new verses to keep the gratitude flowing.

One which I recently read is from Jeremiah (Chapter 17, line 14 in the King James version of the Old Testament): "Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved; for Thou art my praise!"

Praise and give gratitude always. This can be a resolution in itself, as well as a great motivator to carry you to whatever is your intended resolution.

Rejoice!