Happy 2013

Instead of a raft of resolutions, just choose one habit to change in 2013. If you're giving up something you really love (tobacco, alcohol or caffeine, for example) then you will probably lack focus for anything else. If you're determining to be kinder or more compassionate, or less confrontational, or a better listener, that will be just as difficult as giving up a chemical. Hour by hour, day by day, inhale, exhale, that's the way.

Or, if you're determined to have more than one resolution, then leave the second one until February, and the third one till March. Have some compassion for your mortal frame, as the good book says. And always start with the end in mind. You might not reach it, but you won't be aimless.

Peace and fire!

Making time for stillness

I've been watching quietly as many of my friends and associates begin 2009 with a renewed burst of activity, a fresh set of goals and objectives, even the determination to find that perfect job (which shows some optimism in itself). It's always a good time for reflection, at the gate of the year, but my intentions are turning in rather the opposite direction.

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