For the New Year

I don't usually make New Year's resolutions, but I thought I'll make a bit of an exception this year. I've been thinking about this for quite some time, and I've come up with three resolutions. I already do not smoke nor drink and I'm not overweight, so my resolutions are a bit different from the most common ones. Also, I see them more like slogans, akin to the slogans of the Lojong practice.

• Take no shortcuts.
  
  Taking a shortcut is a sign of impatiens and of being in a hurry. I do not want to feel like being in a hurry, and I do not want to be impatient. I am hoping that I may practice patience and contentment by not taking shortcuts.
  
  A shortcut can be many things. It can be walking diagonally across the street or cutting a corner across a lawn to get somewhere quicker. It can also be excessive use of abbreviations, a sign of a hurried mind, too eager to make its point or to deliver a message. To be in a hurry, to be impatient, is not only a sign of stress but also a state in which mistakes are easily made. I would like to make fewer mistakes, to make constructive use of time, to think things through, to know what to do and when to do it.
  
  I'm a software developer so in my work I write computer software. This software is sometimes used by a large number of people. Taking a shortcut (sometimes by implementing a kludge) is often tempting when a re-design might the more sustainable option. This happens when I'm under pressure. Therefore I will try to not be under pressure, to set up conditions in such a way that I am not tempted to cut corners, so that I have the time needed to take the longer but more wise path. This will benefit not only myself but hopefully also anyone who uses the software I'm writing.
  
  It is also a shortcut to over-generalize, to simplify too much, to not consider any contributing factors, to not consider the possible outcomes apart from the obvious or the wanted one, or to fail to listen to the other view. To see issues in black or white, to hold too tightly to a view, or to think I know it all, these are all shortcuts, ways past difficult terrain, strategies to avoid uncomfortable topics or situations. There can be no growth out of the present state or movement towards something higher unless one is willing to go beyond oneself. One does not go beyond oneself by being comfortable.
  
  So, I will practice not taking shortcuts.
  
  
• Expect nothing in return.
  
  This has to to do with being authentic, to genuinely enjoy every little last bit of whatever I'm doing, just for the sake of doing it. Or putting it the other way around, to do whatever I'm doing because it's worth doing, not to get something out of it, to be wholeheartedly engaged and to pay attention.
  
  Expectations ruins not only the day, but my own future engagement with what I'm doing. To not have any expectation and still be committed to the task at hand is difficult. It is a letting go, a renunciation. Of what? Well, a letting go of the view that any action needs to be performed in a transactional universe, within a bubble in which everything has to be bargained for. It requires me to look at why I do things, and maybe it will result in a change to some of my habits or attitudes.
  
  For example, I'm not meditating to become calmer or more concentrated, as if it was some kind of therapy, a way of sorting myself out, or a personal development technique. I meditate because it forces me to seriously consider how I got to be where I currently am, what I'm doing while I'm here, and to look at where I'm going once I'm ready to leave. What happens when I do that? Meditation suddenly becomes much more enjoyable! If you're meditating, try it yourself. It's an opening up to the unknown.
  
  To not expect anything in return is also to give with an open hand. It is not until there is no expectation of getting anything in return that the gift is truly a gift, when it is unbound by any contract, not given with expected reciprocity. That's when the gift can truly change hands. Unless this happens, I will never be able to give anything away, no matter if it is a physical thing, support, or knowledge.
  
  So, I will practice not expecting anything in return.
  
  
• Do not try.
  
  Not trying means either doing or not doing. It means not being vague but instead to be clear and honest. It means not making promises unless they are well thought through. It implies integrity, to be integrated, to be whole.
  
  I think that in this resolution is also a wish to be more realistic. Being realistic means seeing reality, this state of being, for what it is and not expecting it to provide me with more than what is viable. It also means knowing my own weaknesses, so that I do not set out to do something I'm incapable of doing.
  
  At the same time, as realism and idealism are in conflict, I don't want to set aside my idealism on which I often base my faith, which in turn gives me a sense of direction. These are indeed two interesting extremes to try (!) to find a middle way between.
  
  The danger with this is, of course, that I might decide to not set out to explore the boundaries of my comfort zone, that I won't even try to change and grow, something that I believe Buddhism is all about. Well, I will just have to keep that in mind, won't I? After all,
  
  

  If we did all the things that we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves. [Thomas A. Edison]
  

  
  

Have a good year, everyone!

[Photo by myself]