Your Holiday Mission Statement
This is the time of year when it’s most difficult to stay on
track with our goals.
It’s also the time of year when we’re all in a rush to make
new ones.
It seems to me that we all have a certain ideal, a certain
way of living, that gets completely blown each holiday season.
We can’t stick to a diet because, every
time we turn around, we’re met with a truffle. Either the
house is in shambles with suitcases, pine needles,
candle wax, and dirty dishes, or we’re not even home.
We’re out of our routine. Our minds are chattery. Our
bodies are in crisis mode, searching in vain for some
broccoli and a treadmill.
I would like to suggest that this is not the ideal time
of year for any serious and purposeful reflection.
During the holidays, we are buried to the neck in
“shoulds” and “should nots.” We should not get snappy at Aunt Bernice.
We should not be eating crme sauce on the vegetables.
We should be spending at least an hour a day at the
gym.
It seems to me that most New Year’s Resolutions are
cleverly disguised and noble-sounding “shoulds.” And
who needs more of those right now?
In fact, this year, for me, there will be a paring
down–and not a building up–of the shoulds. Over the
past month, I have re-examined my shoulds to determine
which belong there, and which, out of kindness and
gentleness and plain-and-simple personal integrity, do not.
It started with a day of deliberateness; a day
in which I questioned all of my assumptions.
Before I popped anything into my mouth,
I asked myself whether I liked its taste–or whether I was simply
accustomed to it.
I walked through my home, taking a long and
deliberate look at the furnishings, decor, and
knick knacks to see whether I really liked them and
whether they served any meaningful purpose.
Then I took the same eye to my list of shoulds.
The experience was really rather liberating.
To attempt to adopt an unbiased perspective and
asking: Do I really like this? Is this really good
for me? Is this really important to me?
At the end of such a day, I demanded honesty from
myself as I answered: What do I truly value? What
is most important to me? How important is my
spirituality, my family, my professional identity?
Then I crafted a new mission statement, written for
me and my work. Who am I? Who am I to be?
This is such a wonderful instrument for clarifying
your purpose in life. Your mission statement may include your
values, your priorities, your philosophy, your
commitments, your goals. How do you wish your
children to live? Are you living in such a way?
It allows you to identify and define your life
philosophy. Your spiritual beliefs. That which you
find useful. That which you find beautiful.
When you write such a statement, do so in the present
tense. Sign the statement in bold ink and place it
where you’ll read it at the start of every day.
Then expect a shake-up of your shoulds. You may be
surprised at the subtraction of certain long-standing
and familiar goals, and the addition of some unexpected
new ones.
Don’t rush the process. Let it rise organically from a
careful study of your life and the way you endeavor to
live it, deliberately.
Copyright 2005 Susie Michelle Cortright
Susie Cortright is the founder of Momscape.com and Momscape’s
Free Online Scrapbooking Magazine - sites devoted to celebrating life with children. Learn more about her
scrapbooking club or about starting your
own scrapbooking business on Susie’s team: http://www.momscape.com/scrapbooking/business.htm
