To begin is to hear
the crunch of sneakers against morning dew pavement
to spread good like misty perfume and
carry joy as an anchor and paddle
a moment is the sum of action and intention
where our hearts rest, is where we will wake up
place a few alarm clocks within the boxes on your calender
this way of living needs a tune up
to change is to rip out and regrow
deep roots are chains
a new beginning is the lines on our fingertips
always there if we look close enough.
-n.J.bellacicco
@njb.poetry
Like the majority of the world…
whenever I start a new year’s resolution I fail miserably after the first few weeks.
After I get off track, I seem to give up because….well I lost.
My bad habits won.
I get so discouraged at my lack of willpower that it seems to zap away all my strength to persevere.
I have learned over the past few years that I have this problem.
Well—most of us do.
We seem to forget that we are human and that changing a bad habit cold turkey is a lot harder than it looks.
For certain habits, maybe even miraculous.
We fail and then just like that the weight of our failure drags us down.
We do not use our failure to understand ourselves more, but rather allow it to destroy us.
Therefore, I encourage you all to start early this year with your resolutions.
A few days early at least.
Whether it be not clicking your snooze button.
Running a mile a day.
Cutting back on the smoking.
Reading thirty minutes before bed.
Sending a text message of thankfulness each day.
Start today.
Start now.
This way you have a few days to fail and reflect on that failure.
And move on.
Make 2018 the year of using failure to fuel your engine.
Take the risks.
Take the leap.
Take the time to reflect.
And make the change that will better the world.
Lets talk about resolutions…
As you all know today is also known as
Personally, I like hearing other peoples resolutions. It is interesting to me to see what people want to change in their life in order to so called “better themselves.” I appreciate the effort that people put in to reflect on their year and decide what went wrong/went right. I wish for the world’s sake that this reflecting happened more often.
To those people that have made resolutions I want to encourage you. I know how difficult it can be and I think it is great that you have already reflected.
For the past few years I have made New Year’s resolutions. The majority of the time it doesn’t look like an every.single.day habit for all 365 days.
Instead, it sort of looks like…oh I’ll do that today (Day 7). Whoops I forgot about that, I’ll be sure to do that today (Day 85). Hmm it would probably be smart to do that now that I have time (Day 320).
Looks like I should try this again this year (Day 1).
However, this year I am going to
really really really really really
really really really really really
really try.
Scratch that not “try” but rather….commit.
Over the years I have read almost all (well it feels like anyway) every self-help book on the market. I have downloaded so many apps to help beat procrastination, maximize efficiency, build habits, etc.
After my thorough research and countless hours of late night reading I have come to a conclusion.
A step by step process that I know will lead to success.
It appears so complex but it actually quite simple.
Ready for it?
Step 1 of 1:
is…….
ACT
In life there are no short cuts. There is no app that will magically make us read a book a week, read the Bible every night, exercise everyday at 6am, pray every morning, start an organization, be more thankful, take more risks etc. Believe me if there was I would have found it.
The only way to change your life is to take action.
Become a man or woman of action.
I want to touch on something I read a few months ago that always puts things into perspective for me. It reads…
I can tell you right now. It does not feel good to use this technique. It knocked me down flat on my back. However, by doing this I could see the sky.
For example, as a Christian I realized that I was not praying often. During college it is difficult to make time out of your day. This became my excuse. “I just didn’t have time.”
Really? Not enough time?
How many minutes do I spend on social media in a day?
How many minutes do I sit on the couch doing absolutely nothing?
How many minutes do I worrying about tomorrow?
How many minutes I have used to make excuses?
Therefore, I recently started to say, “Prayer is just not a priority”…which hurt me to even say. This allowed me to realize that prayer and my relationship with Christ is my #1 priority but my actions are not following suit.
Therefore, friends I encourage you in 2017 to decide what your priorities are in living the life you have been called to lead.
I hope that you are able to escape the stagnant water, commit, and ACT every.single.day. not just when you feel like it.
If you do, I can assure you, that 2017 will be the year of a lifetime.
*I want to thank all of my readers for following me along this journey in 2016. Thank you for all of your support, advice, and encouragement. I hope to continue to receive your support in 2017. I want to wish you and your families a Happy New Year!
Love you all. -Nick
