Monday, December 28, 2009

 Congress is voting on health care reform as 2010 arrives, and you should be taking stock of your own health, and happiness, as the decade ends and a new one begins.Take personal inventory of your life at this moment of transition. What's your personal report card on your health and happiness at this time? Have you been looking after yourself? Are there things you should be doing for your health that you have not been doing? Much of your health is in your hands--what you eat, how you exercise, the sleep you get, how you handle stress. The decade's end represents a sort of benchmark, a moment in time that we should take advantage of in assessing our lives and determining what needs to be done and committing to doing it.

In many fields we take stock, take inventory, have an end-of-year evaluation. Sports commentators will be reviewing the year in sports, as will political pundits for politics, entertainment critics for entertainment, and so on. Many businesses review the year and make decisions about the future. But we individuals are not so good at doing that concerning ourselves, reflecting and assessing how we've done this past year, or decade, and deciding what must be done next year.

Many of us have more control over own health and happiness than we think, so its not trivial to say "I'm going to work on this, I'm going to do that".

Taking personal inventory may be particularly important this January 1, as we are in the midst of a perfect storm of stress and challenges in this country, with an unpredictable economy, the highest unemployment rate in decades, two ongoing wars, and with a relatively new administration in Washington. The common denominator in all this is uncertainty. What will 2010 bring, how should we proceed as a nation, and individually, in the face of all this? Planning ahead can be an important antidote to uncertainty and the fear it can bring. Setting personal goals and strategies for all areas of our lives as we enter the new year can help reduce the uncertainty and thus the fear.

Let me suggest a time-honored strategy--make a list of things that are absolutely essential to deal with in 2010. This should not be a mundane everyday To Do List, but be more thoughtful, deeper, and directed particularly at your health and happiness, at things you might actually accomplish. It will give you focus and direction. I recommend that you share your list with family or friends to get support in seeing that these resolutions are realized in the new year. Getting them to buy into your commitments should help ensure that they are accomplished.

And finally--your happiness! Giving to others and forgiving others will go a long way to get you into the new year in a happier mood, a happy feeling that can stay the course! Let me offer you a simple formula: Happiness=G+G. The two G's of Generosity and Gratitude are amazing factors in feeling happy--they can make the recipients of G+G happy, and they can make you happy because you've done the right thing and it feels great.

This season is the ideal time to reflect on where we've been and where we're going next. Our big adventure called life is not random. You can influence the journey, and this is a good time to get doing it!