Resolutions Coming From Love

Today I'm thinking about New Years Resolutions. I've also been thinking about how often in the past I made resolutions out of a sense that I "should" be doing something, that I was imperfect and wrong, that I had to be better.One of my resolutions is to show myself more love, to be kinder and more forgiving when I make a mistake or fall short of the (admittedly high) bar I set for myself. To treat myself with the same caring and understanding that I want others to treat me, in line with how I strive to treat others. This may be the underlying resolution for the whole year.So in keeping with this I am going to start each of New Years Resolutions with the sentence stem: "I resolve to express love for myself by..."For instance: I have been feeling heavy, out of shape, unhealthy. So I started out making my usual kind of resolution, about my weight, exercise, etc., one that felt like an order. After reconsidering how I'm thinking, these are my resolutions around that:

I resolve to express love for myself by caring for my body.I resolve to express love for myself by taking steps to ensure that I have enough energy and stamina to get out in the world and do the things that bring me joy.

Those feel so much more inspiring to me. Yes, I have yet to see if I can keep them in mind - and I imagine that if I can, I'll experience far more than weight loss.How would you finish that sentence?

"I resolve to express love for myself by..."

--------------This post written with many thanks to Brene Brown and her book, The Gifts of Imperfection, for helping lead me to this understanding.