How to get your New Year’s Resolution to be meaningful—and to survive:
Cheerful New Year from Elephant’s Waylon Lewis (who just woke up and looks it)!
Above, Waylon reads three things and reminds you how to make your Resolutions work. What is your resolution? Say in comments.
How you and Elephant can be of huge benefit in 2018 to a wonderful but crazy world in need.
New Year’s resolutions are often practical: lose some weight, start reading more, start running, finish that book.
What they miss is the motivation that will get us through times of inspiration and lack of inspiration.
Motivation does not come from willpower. Willpower breaks, falters in the warm trance of the present moment “maybe I’ll just eat that entire cake.”
Motivation comes from empathy, from appreciation, and from the feeling that we can be of benefit.
Good news: we can cultivate those three things through our morning, and evening meditation.
Now there’s your New Year’s Resolution. Meditate, for a few minutes each morning. Begin with a bow, and dedicate your day to be of benefit. Then, good posture, place attention on breath in and out. Eyes open (especially in the morning) as we don’t want to separate ourselves from our lives, but to infuse daily life with the power of this simple (straightforward) yet difficult (lifelong) meditation. End with a contemplation: “What is one thing I feel compassion about?” And, “What is one thing I’m grateful for?” You’ve already started with the aspiration to be of benefit. Bow out.
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Happy New Year! ~ #WaylonLewis
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Often the best moments of our lives arise within the pauses,
Between our endless hurrying.
Slow down.
Enjoy your coffee for here.
Eat sitting down.
Don’t text and walk or drive.
Just text fully.
Communicate fully.
Eat fully.
Be fully.
Live fully.
Love fully.
Feel fully.
It’s all just one pause away.
Multitasking takes us away from the magic of this moment.
Breathe.
Smile.
Cry.
Connect.
It’s not too late to fall in love with your life.
~ Waylon Lewis
The words that kept us inspired in 2017.
> 20 Beautiful Quotes to Remind us to Love Ourselves.
> A Healthy Way to Lean into our Not-Okay-Ness.
> Five Ways to Live More Simply.
> Here’s Why I’m Ditching Toxic Clothing.
> How to find Harmony with the Hygge Practice.
> The Laziest (& Best) Way to Practice Yoga.
> The Technique that helps me make Decisions under Pressure (& has Saved my Life More than Once).
> This is for the Brokenhearted.
> Use This Buddhist Practice to Overcome Self-Doubt.
> I’m the Objectifier & the Victim: Exploring the Parts of Ourselves we Don’t want to See.
> 20 Words that Sum up my 88-year-old Father’s Wisdom.
> Trump: Fascist, Populist, Tyrant or Clown.
> How to Have a Mindful Breakup—the Buddhist Way.
> 5 Things I Promise You—for When You Make the Big Mistakes.
> Don’t Quit your Job to Chase your Dream.
> A Sweet, Steamy Love Letter to Yoga.
> The Two Myths that Prevent Intimacy.
> These 5 Foods are making us Overweight, Unhealthy & Unhappy.
> Five Revelations I had about Life when I Stopped Avoiding Pain.
> How being an Empath can lead to Adrenal Fatigue, Insomnia & Exhaustion.
> The Psoas is not the Muscle of your F***ing Soul.
> The 10 Inhibitors of a “Zen” kind of Life.
> How to Embody Truth & Reflect it Back to the World.
> You do not Need Anyone’s Permission to Grow.
> Why Men Suddenly Stop Communicating.
> What Shaving My Head Taught Me about Being a Woman.
> Instead of Searching for Love, allow it to Arrive—Buddhist Style.
> Houseplants Aren’t as Green as We Think—here’s the Dirt.
> Why we Need to Stop Saying, “I’m Sorry For Your Loss.”
> Eight Nutritional Deficiencies that can Cause Depression & Anxiety.
> How to Get Super Vulnerable so that God Be Like, “WHUT?! I Better Give You Some Attention!”
> Why our Clothing Donations may be doing More Harm than Good.
> Seven Mindful Communication Practices that Improved my Relationship.
> Whoever said “Time Heals all Wounds” was seriously F*cked in the Head.
> Dreamy Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake. {Raw Recipe}
> The Best, Most Terrific Analysis of Trump’s Tweets I’ve ever Read.
> Why I went from Cake-Faced to Bare-Faced.
> How I Murdered One of My Students.
> 10 Scams $piritualists are pushing on you every other Day.
> Still Sexy: How Older Couples do It.
> These 4 Words Stop Arguments Dead in their Tracks.
> How I “Cured” My Supposed IBS by Making One Simple Change.
> Romancing Aloneness: How to Be Alone Like a Buddhist.
> How you, you know, Get Rich & Change the World for the Better (Really).
> In the Face of Excruciating Heartbreak, Know This.
> There’s a New Antioxidant in Town: 3 Ways to Boost It.
> The Biggest Lie we all Believe about Love.
> Buddhism on Worrying—& how to Eradicate it.
> I have been Violated a Thousand Times.
> Stop Anxiety in its Tracks with this Basic Question.
> Top 20 Ayurvedic Eating Tips to Improve Digestion.
> Love is Not a Power Play: a New “Constitution” for Conscious Relationships.
> I Searched for Months for the Best Non-toxic, Eco, Affordable Mattress. Here’s What I Found.
> Letting Go of Someone we Feel Addicted To.
> This is for Every Woman who Hates her Body.
> If my Parents Taught me Nothing Else, I Wish it had been This.
> How to Inspire Intellectuals, Insensitives & Jackoffs to Grow Empathy (& Estrogen).
> The Best Sex of my Life almost Ruined my Relationship.
> 2 Simple Buddhist Practices to Kickstart your Day.
> Should I Stay or Should I Go? Keys to Making Great Decisions in Life.
> Divorce: The 5 Things we don’t Talk About.
> Why a Switch to Simple Living can make you Happier.
> 6 Rituals—For when we’re Too Busy to Notice if we’re even Happy Anymore.
> Nurture your Body with this Easy Beet Salad. {Recipe}
> Losing the Love of my Life: a Year of Grief on the Road.
> These 7 Wild Weeds have unexpected Health Benefits—and you can Find them in your Yard.
> 4 Compelling Reasons to Finally go Vegan.
> The Reason Why I Finally Quit my Job as a Corporate Lawyer & Took a Leap of Faith.
> Attachment vs. Love: Understanding the Difference.
> 33 Rules for a Life Well Lived.
> Should I Stay or Should I Go? The 4 Essential Questions to Break Up without Regrets.
> The Legacy of Racism I Need to Own.
> Forget Massages & Spa Days—This is what Self-Care Really Is.
> Is it Wrong to Raise a Child Vegan?
> Life is gonna suck, but it needs to—5 hard but helpful truths.
> 4 Ayurvedic Tips to Enhance your Digestion Now.
> How to tell the difference between a Calling, a Career & a Job (and what to do about It.)
> This is what a Relationship with “The One” should Look Like.
> How to Know When to Hold on & When to Let Go.
> 8 Ways we Violate our Kids’ Boundaries & how it Affects them Later in Life.
> This is Not an Interruption of your Life—this is your Life.
> Any Manly Vegan would Weep over this Dish: Black Quinoa with Miso Zaalouk. {Recipe}
> Avoid These 3 Toxic Everyday Products & Become an Educated Consumer.
> Ladies, enjoy your Sexy Self. Just stop Calling it Yoga.
> How we can Lean into Plastic’s Painful Legacy & Make a Difference.
> Stop Telling Single Women to Love Themselves First.
> Ayurveda & the Microbiome: How to Heal our Leaky Guts.
> Buddhism: Chasing after Happiness makes us Less Happy.
> I’m a Therapist, but I Won’t Fix You: 5 Questions that can help us Help Ourselves.
> “I Look Fine, but No One can see my Pain”: Living with an Invisible Illness.
> An Affirmation for Highly-Sensitive People.
> When I started Dating with Purpose, I found my Man: 20 Qualities to Look For in a Partner.
> Life as an Introvert told in 10 Drawings.
> Fascism is Back in Europe, and Muslims are the new Jews.
> {Cutting Through}: Organized Religion. What if I like Meditation but Buddhism Freaks Me Out? {Q & A}
> Does it count? Does it count? Does it count? Does it count?
> Me Too: Another Woman Steps Forward.
> Can we have an Honest Conversation about Kids’ Sports?
> It’s Time to Break the Safety Glass on White Fragility.
> The Ethnic Cleansing Buddhists Love to Pretend isn’t Happening Right Now.
> How I Completely Healed my Panic Attacks.
> Two Tweets: the “Difference between a brown person killing people & a white person killing people.”
> If Adult Cows Don’t Drink Cow’s Milk, then Why do We?
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> Buddhist Insight on How to Deal with our Emotions.
> Jim Carrey explains Depression in the Best Way I’ve ever Heard.
> The Purpose of Life, according to the Dalai Lama.
> 6 Common Pitfalls for New Meditators—& how to Leap over Them.
> {Cutting Through}: Emotions. Does Buddhism Teach Avoiding the Highs & Lows? {Q & A}
> How to Get yourself Back Together after Hitting Rock Bottom.
> Writing Exercise: The “10-Year Plan” for a Remarkable Life.
> For those who carry the pain of loss over the Holidays.
> How to Cultivate real Optimism—instead of just “Thinking Positive.”
> Forget Silver Linings—I’m done being Grateful for my Hardships.
> Our Obsession with Releasing is Hurting Us.
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