Change One Thing (KB)

As each New Year is rung in on January 1, most of us make our New Year’s resolutions that we are going to do this and that and the other in the next 365 days. We dutifully draw up a list of dozens of things we will definitely do—and we mean it. When the next New Year rolls around, however, we look at our list and say, “Gee, it was too long. I couldn’t do any of these things. I fell along the wayside. “And then we go ahead and make the same long list of resolutions for the following year, and the cycle continues. This is why when we came to Rosh Hashanah a few weeks ago, I stressed that we should find one thing to focus on. For example, if you talk too much, resolve to think before you get into a conversation: Think about how you want to present yourself and be there. Or if you find yourself being inattentive most of the time to your friends or your surroundings, figure out how you can make yourself more present and attuned to the moment. If you focus your attention on changing or even modifying just one thing in your life—no more than that—you will be surprised at how accomplishing that one thing can have an impact on your entire life.