< align=center><FONT size=6>New Year's Resolutions
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< align=center><BR>新年计划</FONT>
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<BR><FONT color=purple><FONT size=4><FONT color=black size=3>一年之计在于春。春天依始，你为自己播下了来年耕作的种子了吗？你为自己定下了来年奋斗的目标了吗？<BR></FONT></FONT></FONT><BR>Four thousand years ago in Babylonian times, resolutions were made on the first day of the New Year, and it would be reflected in people's actions during the remaining days of the year. Incidentally, the Babylonian New Year was celebrated in March to coincide with the planting of the spring crops. The Babylonians were very much in touch with the rhythms of the seasons. <BR>Even today, four thousand years later, we can draw upon the similarities between the harvesting of crops and bringing fruitful results into our lives resolutions are the seeds; a mind full of good intentions and solid beliefs is the fertile ground; positive thoughts are the tending of the grounds; and the process is the seasons with new beginnings, tending, harvesting and resting. <BR>If one is caught up with keeping the fast pace of modern life, one will have created a gap between Nature and oneself. One experiences a high level of enthusiasm at the beginning of the New Year, but shortly after the year has begun, the resolutions fizzle out, and one is unable to keep the enthusiasm. After the seeds have been sown, the season moves into hot summer, and then is the time to tend the grounds with positive thoughts. Instead of tending to the farm, in the real world, one gets busy doing other things, and the tending is ignored. The very resolution that inspired one in the beginning becomes a cause of inner struggle and unhappiness. The struggle exists because one is unable to take the resolution any further due to impatience or lack of commitment. <BR>The underlying intention is the force, and the belief in oneself is the focus that will carry the enthusiasm to fruition. If the force and focus are not joined, the target will almost always be missed. Therefore, more important than the resolution itself is the intention and the belief behind it. <BR>四千年前的巴比伦时代，新年第一天制定的计划，会在这一年余下的日子中付诸实现。顺便提一句，巴比伦在3月庆祝新年，与春天播种庄稼的时间一致。巴比伦人十分遵循四季嬗变的规律。<BR>即使到了四千年后的今天，我们仍然可以在收割庄稼与收获生活中的成果之间找到共通点：计划是种子；充溢着良好意愿和坚定信念的头脑是肥沃的土地；积极的想法是耕作；而过程就是包含着新开始、耕作、收获与休息的四季。<BR>忙于追赶现代生活快捷步伐的人会在自然规律和自我诉求之间留下鸿沟。新年伊始，人会体验到高涨的热情，开年没多久，雄图大略就萎缩下去，无法保住热情。种子播撒以后，季节转入炎热的夏天，而那便是用积极的想法耕耘土地的时候了。可现实世界的情形往往是个人忙于他事而没有照看农地，耕作就被荒废了。开头热衷不已的计划如今成了内心挣扎与失望的缘由。浮躁、欠投入，都是这种挣扎出现的原因。<BR>潜藏在计划下面的意愿是动力，对自己的信念是把热情付诸成实现的着力点。如果动力与着力点不在一块儿，就可能永远达不到目标。因此，比计划本身更重要的是其背后的意愿和信念。<BR> |
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