Write It Down

This would have been a great first song for 2009, but as it turns out it is the second. Many people right now will be a week or so into their New Year Resolutions, so this is fairly apt. You see I am not a big fan of New Year Resolutions. The fact that we say we are going to change something just because it is New Year is a sign that it is not something we really want to change and as soon as the year grows old enough to no longer be called "New", the commitment is long forgotten.

My approach is that if you want to change something, give up smoking, lose weight, get fit etc… then choose to because you want to and not because you feel you should. Did you know that any commitment that isn’t really rooted with desire is half-hearted and is likely to fail? Well it’s true, but it’s not your fault if you drop your Resolutions. It’s a habit. You are just being you. If you want to make New Year Resolutions then make sure they are things that you naturally desire. You may want to be fit and healthy, but do you really want to go to the gym and work out 3 to 5 days a week, when you normally use that hour or two doing something that makes you happy? Think about that. Real change comes from staying power and staying power comes from a true desire for commitment, so if you feel that way about something, you will have no difficulty in successfully maintaining the discipline required.

I make my resolutions at any time of the year. If I get to a point where I can really see and feel the benefit of doing or changing something then I will commit to it because I can feel it is something I am excited about changing. If that enthusiasm and excitement isn’t there then, for me I know already that I won’t keep it up and that’s OK because when I am ready the commitment will be made.

Interestingly I started running a couple of weeks before Christmas as a "non-New Year" Resolution to improve my fitness and I have seriously painful sciatica as a result. I have a 15 year old back injury and my osteopath told me I was a fool to be running. He is right. So whilst I was actually enjoying running at 6.30 every morning and having no trouble getting up to commit myself, it’s like my higher self was telling me to stop. I wish my higher self could find a less painful way to tell me, but then again I seem to recall some mild sensations that could have been signs, so I won’t pass the blame!

Its Worth The Pain
This song was recorded in rather extreme circumstances. I had to stop literally every few minutes to stretch, lie down and simply breathe my way through agonizing pain… This is what I am prepared to go through to keep The Weekly Songcast going. You see? That’s what I mean by a commitment that is easy to maintain because I swear if it was any other job or task it would not have been completed on time. You may even notice a hint of my agony in the singing and some rough edges to the guitar playing, mainly the tuning, but I just had to get it down. Most of it was done today. In fact though I’m not making excuses. I’m actually very happy with the way this song sounds.

If Its On Paper Then You Have a Chance
I had a fantastic conversation with a good friend of mine recently. I haven’t know him very long, but we’ve spoken about some great stuff and a few weeks ago he told me about the power of writing things down. I had heard this before, but never really committed to it (see where this all ties up now?). I intellectually understood the power of writing down goals, intentions and stuff like that, but never really did it. It may seem crazy, but I assure you that since I have started writing down my intentions, goals and, if you like a scenario of what my life feels like achieving these goals is having the most profound effect. I’ll report more on this over time as things unfold, probably at The Neural Recon Report. What’s amazing is that I had written this song before I had that conversation and then everything made sense to me.

So writing things down changes your life. There I’ll commit myself to saying that because I believe it is true. After all I have been writing things down in song format for over a year now and my life has shifted about 1.2 light years from where it was when I started.

Enjoy!

Tagged as: change, commitment, intentions