Reflections and resolutions

This is a copy of my latest post on the Communitas Collective blog.

This is my third New Year’s since the onset of Crohn’s Disease. Thinking about New Year’s resolutions can be depressing with a chronic illness. How can I resolve to do anything ahead of time when I don’t know I’ll be feeling?

I read something very freeing some years ago. It’s become even more helpful since Crohn’s. The fourth agreement in The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz is

Always do your best – your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick..

I love this: instead of trying to set a fixed bar it gives me permission to have days when there’s very little I can do except try to sleep off a Crohn’s fever. While still challenging me to do whatever is within my reach on a given day.

If you make New Year’s resolutions, I hope you’ll aim for ‘challenging yet doable’. Failing is no fun whereas meeting goals that stretch us a little feels so rewarding.