‘Tis the season to start thinking about our grand self-improvement plans for 2023, right? It’s right around this time of year, when we’re eating too many Christmas cookies, spending too much money, and just generally feeling overstressed and under-rested, that we begin to craft the resolutions that we vow to begin on January 1 and continue through the coming year. But, as we all know, that’s a fool’s errand. If we’re being honest, we often make the EXACT SAME RESOLUTION every single year. Because resolutions aren’t effective. They don’t work, and, more often than not, they usually just make us feel bad about ourselves and our ability to stick with our promise to . (Name your poison: eat healthier, exercise more, drink less, put down our phone, etc.)
Does that mean we should just give up the whole idea of transformation? No. But it does mean we have to rethink what we’re really looking for when we make a resolution that goes only skin deep and doesn’t get to the stuff underneath that usually creates the need for a resolution in the first place. Enter my annual rallying cry: ReVolution Not Resolution! You do not need to make resolutions. In fact, I challenge you to go against the grain and refuse to make any resolution whatsoever. Instead, promise yourself that you’re going to do something more meaningful and more lasting, something that helps you blossom into the Self you were created to be. The journey of inner transformation is the only real way to make the “progress” we seek in our spiritual lives and in our lives in general.
To that end, I’ll be offering an evening retreat — both in-person and online — for those who would like to take up this exciting and fulfilling challenge. We will talk about all the ways we block our own path when it comes to making our daily lives more peaceful and joyful and learn some practical exercises for clearing away the obstacles and moving forward. You can’t fail at this plan. If you don’t do what you set out to do, you just begin again right where you are. No resolution broken, no plan to abandon until another New Year’s Eve rolls around.
Hosted by Christ the King Retreat House in Syracuse and available to anyone in any region via Zoom, this workshop will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 4, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Two weeks after the event, on Wednesday, Jan. 18, at 6:30 p.m., we will hold an hourlong Zoom follow-up session for all participants so we can check in, share progress or challenges, and just generally support each other in our efforts to keep on keeping on.
If you’d like to read more about this approach to starting the new year off right, you can head over HERE to read a previous post on this favorite topic of mine. If you’d like more info on the retreat or the registration link, click HERE to go to the CTK website.
Click HERE to read a recent story on my upcoming retreat in the latest issue of The Catholic Sun.
