blisspassport.com

This lull between Christmas and New Years always gets people thinking about resolutions and what they want different in their life by the next time they clink champagne glasses.

It’s good to set aside a little time to think about such things. Otherwise we would only let change run us over. But this year I’m taking a slightly different approach.

Just like setting an intention at the beginning of a yoga class, I’m deciding on an intention for 2011. Then it’s not about goals of keeping up my daily yoga practice or crossing something off a list. But I do love lists.

I see this as something broad reaching – like compassion, kindness or joy.

“You set your intentions based on understanding what matters most to you and make a commitment to align your worldly actions with your inner values,” meditation teacher Phillip Moffitt wrote in a Yoga Journal column about Buddhism and intentions.

In the last few years, Bhutan has become known as the center of happiness. The government has a happiness index. So it’s not just looking at how something affects the economy of a country, but how does something affect the happiness of Bhutan’s residents.

What if you started considering that with every day activities? Which will bring more joy into my life, a new Coach bag or going on a yoga retreat?

Setting an annual intention is like that. Bringing this thought into daily decisions. Of course I’ll have to remind myself of that intention from time to time. That’s just how it works.

I could set goals within my intention if I want to. If my goal is positivity, does that mean limiting time with someone who is always an Eeyore. Or if my goal is joy, do I volunteer or join a group to socialize more.

Without the set marker there isn’t success or failure. It’s up to me how much or how little I bring that intention into my life. So in 2012 I won’t be thinking about all those failed 2011 resolutions.