As the New Year gets underway I'm thinking
about the things I plan to do in 2013. I don't make resolutions; they are
usually enthusiastic but unrealistic. Invariably I fail which causes me to
be hard on myself. The danger is then that I stop trying because, well…what’s the point? Not a great question
to ruminate upon if you want to stay motivated. So, this year as well as making
my annual Treasure Map (visual goal setting map), I've been focusing on the
idiom waste not, want not which came
to mind after spending a few weeks with my visiting aunt who had traveled from
Italy to spend Christmas with the family. One of the things I observed in our
time together was how frugal she was. Not in a miserly way but she is from the
generation that recycled, made or made-do and lived by wasting not, primarily
out of necessity. They didn’t call it ‘recycling’ or ‘artisan crafted’, they
simply did what was economically and ecologically sound.She did it in small ways but she was consisted and committed to not wasting anything.
It occurred to me that the idea of wasting not
could apply to other things as well as general recycling, leftover food, managing
money or those items of no longer required clothing. It could also apply to
concepts. So this year I'm planning to waste
not, want not on key areas: energy, time, creativity and peace.
Energy: personal drama hits us all from
time-to-time. I'm will aim to keep it contained, do what I can about the
elements over which I have control and not get involved if it’s not my
business. If I don’t waste energy it will be available to for the things that
are important such as my writing, my family and friends.
Time: do I really need to watch this TV
show? That might be an extra half hour of time I can spend in ways that fit
with my waste not, want not approach.
I will allocate my time in manageable chunks for my writing; a word, a
sentence, a paragraph and a page at a time.
Creativity: while I primarily create
through words, I will also employ my other creative skills, such as drawing and
painting, which help me to think differently and feed my word output. I will
try to harness those elements.
Peace: it’s easy to get caught up in the
chaos of the everyday and start to worry about every little thing that is going
on in my life and in that of others around me. Again I will focus on what I can
act on and let go of what I can’t.
I'm aware that the above will mean myriad
decisions made in the face of every event. But that’s okay. One decision at a
time, one day at a time, I can conserve the things I value most and have them
available for what is fundamental to my life. I've come to realise that it’s
the small things we waste that accumulate into the biggest wanting.
That’s sure to get my wise aunt’s approval.
