Revolutionary Idea on Resolutions: Less Ego, More Enlightenment

Once we've recovered from our New Year's activities--dancing and romancing and such--we can then get down to brass tacks.

Courtesy: Once we've recovered from our New Year's activities--dancing and romancing and such--we can then get down to brass tacks.

(SALEM) - Countdown to the New Year has come and gone. Many traditional Americans are undergoing the routine of making New Year's resolutions. Much of the time, these elusive goals are geared to self-improvement, but very little attention is paid to doing something for the Common Good. Such self-centered resolutions can be revolting. We require a more enlightened approach. Whether or not we lose a few pounds or hang up my haphazard pile of dirty clothes will hardly interest the wider world. Few persons benefit. Except maybe the nearest health club or a significant other that has the task of super-pooper-scooper, i.e., cleaning up your mess after you. Once we've recovered from our New Year's activities--dancing and romancing and such--we can then get down to brass tacks. The next red-letter day on the calendar is Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday.

He preached peace and nonviolence. What can you and I do to keep that dream of his going forward? Here's the Self Freedom Formula I recommend for us: 1. Find out what disturbs your inner peace and vow to find a useful remedy.

2. Try out prayer, meditation and exercise and see what works best for you.

3. Keep a journal of your cause-and-effect disruptions to your peace.

4. Reward yourself with your favorite music when stress is reduced.

5. Choose two friends to help keep tabs and support your efforts.

6. Develop your own "job description" for a more peaceful personality.

7. Use guided meditation or a hypnotist is old traumas intervene.

8. Immerse yourself in a volunteer role that truly benefits others.

9. Look for acts of unusual kindness and catalog what you find.

10. Report those kindnesses to family members, ask for feedback.

11. Have someone takes photos displaying your own kindnesses. 12. Start a photo album showing same: Gallery of Good Deeds. If we put as much energy into good conduct as we do into grievances, all could benefit. We can refresh our path to the future. It needn't be a repeat of the past. New adventures await!

Salem-News.com Community Writer Barry Lee Coyne brings to our readers stories from his combined career of journalism and gerontology, and explains that these paths shaped his values. Lee Coyne once worked for The Civil Service Leader in NY State and covered the Legislature. He has also done features on mediation and arbitration, and believes in healthy skepticism. This writer-therapist often views the world as the masks of comedy and tragedy placed upon the scales of justice. For him, optimism inevitably wins. "Lyrical Lee" has traveled to 30 nations aboard and was once a press intern at the UN. His first published article was in The NY Daily News in '59, dealing with the need for integrity in public office.

He also launched the nation's first tele-conference on health education for shut-ins, created the Eldermentors project in VA to pair retirees with immigrant students needing role models, and was the main catalyst behind CCTV's "Public Public" panel show here in Salem. Lee received his BA in International Relations and an MSW in community organization. He currently serves as a member of Salem's Library Advisory Board. To send Lee an email, please write to this address: luckycoyne@yahoo.com