So Miss Ju has got me thinking about what shape I want my 2011 to take.

I have tried choosing a theme for my years in the past, and I think it worked well. I haven't tried it in the last year or two, though.

I think this year I would like to focus on following the Art of Peace as described by the founder of Akido, Morehei Ueshiba. I stumbled across some quotes from him today by accident while reading Garr's blog, and they resonated. You can read some good examples at Wikiquotes and Brainyquote.

One in particular that I like: "There are no contests in the Art of Peace. A true warrior is invincible because he or she contests with nothing. Defeat means to defeat the mind of contention that we harbor within."

and also: "To injure an opponent is to injure yourself. To control aggression without inflicting injury is the Art of Peace."

and: "As soon as you concern yourself with the 'good' and 'bad' of your fellows, you create an opening in your heart for maliciousness to enter. Testing, competing with, and criticizing others weaken and defeat you."

I keep on fighting for my "You are now an Adult" trophy. I need to step back and realise there will never be a trophy. And that's okay.

Of course there is no way I can live this enlightened state of mind 24/7 with only a year of practice, but I am going to try to be mindful of these ideas as my over-arching theme. I lost my temper in a big way at least once last year, because I was being critical and finding one person wanting. It provided a short-term solution (they stopped saying spreading unpleasant gossip and rumours about others in my earshot) but taking up the banner of the bully is not a livable, or a laudable action. Meeting negativity with more negativity isn't going to have any long term benefit to the world. There are better ways to live.

Hopefully I will come a step closer to realising there is no one single secret technique that will make me a master of living.