Happy Birthday to my hubby!

Did you make a New Year’s Resolution back in January? Or did you, at some time in the past couple of months, decide to break a habit, lose a few pounds, start exercising, balance your checkbook regularly, cut back on spending? And have you gotten off track somehow?

Instead of beating yourself up about it, relax. Trying and failing is an essential, necessary part of any behavioral change. It’s part of the process.

But now, it’s time to get back on track. Renew your commitment, firm up your resolve. And try, try again. You’re one try/fail cycle closer to success.

And if you haven’t made any resolutions, well, why not make one now? You don’t have to wait for January to commit to making a change.

Kirk Jones responded to Weekly Challengers about setting a theme for the year with his concept of consistency. As I corresponded with him, I learned more about this amazing man, and I invited him to submit a Weekly Challenger. It’s my delay, not his, that’s kept you from getting this gem earlier. Enjoy!

With our constant busy-ness and multi-tasking, the need for speed has become a national addiction. But does life have to be fast to be fulfilling?

Chronic rushing makes us prone to making more mistakes and diminishes our capacity to relish the joy of living. Here are four ways to live at a savoring pace, a pace characterized by peace, patience, and paying attention:

1. Begin the day with a peaceful moment of meditation and reflection. Starting with peace gives you a serene feeling which you can return to whenever you desire.

2. Build “speed bumps” by scheduling several mini-breaks throughout the day. You may use this time to breathe deeply, listen to relaxing music, read poetry, or do nothing at all.

3. Ban rushing from the way you think, speak, and behave. Use “The Hurry Test” at www.savoringpace.com to help you pay attention to the small ways you can learn to live at a savoring pace.

4. Bring your day to a close with gratitude. As you begin to slow down and savor life more, you will see remarkable “showings in the slowing.” Take time at the end of each day to be grateful for blessings, especially the small ones and those that caught you by surprise.

by Kirk Byron Jones

I am in possession of a couple sets of old, hand-embroidered, days-of-the-week dishtowels. Each day has a specific chore assigned to it: Monday for laundry, Tuesday ironing, Saturday gardening, and so on. I remember my mother keeping a similar schedule when I was growing up. As a stay-at-home mom (expected back in those days), she created an order, a structure which helped define her time.

Such structure seems like a luxury now. We cram our laundry, gardening, errands, etc. around jobs, family, basketball practice, music lessons, and the hundreds of other tasks that fill our hectic lives. And yet, a little structure just might be welcome.

This week, take a look at all the tasks you do. Is there some way to add structure to them, to assign a certain task to a certain day? Perhaps you might choose to clean the bathroom on Monday, pay bills on Tuesday, run errands on Wednesday. Or you might take a big chore - laundry is one of my least favorites because it never seems to end - and split it up. Mondays you wash the bleach load, Tuesdays the dark permanent press, etc.

You might be surprised at how comforting a little of bit of structure can be!

Back in November, I wrote about a couple I’d seen at a deli who’d completely tuned out to their surroundings, and even more disturbingly, to each other. Since then I’ve been noticing a lot of that. Whether they’re talking on cell phones, listening to their MP-3 players, or texting someone, people just are not being present to where they are or to what’s going on around them.

This is physically dangerous, of course. ER’s are seeing a lot of people who’ve managed to injure themselves while walking and talking or texting on their cell phones. I won’t even mention while driving! But what makes me sad is that all those people are so busy trying to be someplace else that they’re not appreciating where they are.

It makes me wonder if they are ever satisfied with themselves, their surroundings, or their lives. Do they spend their days trying to be someplace else, or maybe somebody else? That’s not fulfilling or gratifying or even happy-making.

This week, instead of being someplace else, be where you are. Fully embrace the experience you are having, instead of hiding from it.