New Year, New Perspective.

Why bother making New Year's Resolutions?  We all know that we will break them, right?  We vow to eat better, work out, spend less money, but why do we make the effort when we know by late February we'll be back to our dessert eating, tired, on-line shopping ways? HOPE is the reason we make our resolutions, and a life without hope is a dark one indeed.  So, I say rejoice in those resolutions and even if you break them, at least you've attempted to create a better life for yourself, because isn't that the point? Isn't improvement of ourselves the goal of our many trips around the sun?

My resolution:  Maintain a positive perspective in regards to myself and others.  Here are my three new mottos:

1. Compare not.  
• I compare myself to EVERYONE I meet and I am not even slightly joking.  I think my heart starts in the right place; I want to become the best version of myself, but in doing so, I constantly assess my place among others I know. This practice places a person on a quest that can never be fulfilled. Why? Someone will always be prettier, smarter, skinnier, richer, and overall more successful than I and knowing that makes me feel bad about myself.  But in the same sentiment, someone will always be less fortunate than I and that view is worse than the first.  It leads to a prideful heart. And anyway, why should I decide who is what?  So instead of all this comparing, I strive to remember that we are all God's children, and we all have our place and purpose and the superficial stuff doesn't matter. So, instead of coveting, I choose gratefulness and change my envious thoughts to a prayer thanking the Almighty who gave me blessings beyond measure. 
2. Live and let live.
•  I have my life and you have yours.  Why do I want to meddle in your business when I can barely manage mine?  I think others, including myself, attempt to control another out of fear.  Let's focus on helping others instead of telling them how to live, which leads me to my last motto.
3. Love, don't judge.
• I've found that if I shift my view and if I question why I'm judging another, I can get to the real issue bothering me, which usually has nothing to do with the other person or group. People judge for all sorts of reasons; fear, misunderstanding, insecurity, and sometimes judgement comes from a genuine desire to help, but it is fueled by a misdirected perspective. Instead of wasting negative energy by judging,  I can create positive energy by loving.  

~Truly, Cinderella (the middle-class, thirty-something, working-mom Cinde, of course)