A New New Year: 10 Uncommon Things To Make This One Special

This year, The Chinese New Year falls on February 3rd.

The celebration is also known as Chinese Lunar New Year.
Chinese from all over the world will be celebrating the year of the Rabbit.
When I was young, I was told that things borrowed and money owed should be returned and paid in full before the New Year.
We are not to carry forward any kind of indebtedness or grudges. For those who have not done what they have set out to do since January 1st, 2011, this is another chance for them to make the 'resolutions'.
We make a decision to celebrate Chinese New Year this year.

We have not done so for the last 20 years.

Why, the change? We have decided to embrace the good of both cultures, the East and the West.
Thus, we have the uncommon.

The word uncommon in the Oxford dictionary means unusual or remarkable.
To some, it might be tied to the word weird.
To have uncommon practices or behavior might draw attention, because they are separate from the norm and the usual or the common.
To us uncommon means: To love our neighbors as ourselves To serve and to contribute to our society To be conscious of how we spend our resources of time, talents and money To be uncompromising, relevant and alive To live a life by design not default To celebrate the uniqueness of each individual regardless of race, culture and beliefs To live a debt free life To connect and be connected Cavett Robert, the founder of National Speaker Association said: "Three billion people on the face of the earth go to bed hungry every night, but four billion people go to bed every night hungry for a simple word of encouragement and recognition.
" So, how can we make a difference in our society? Be uncommon.
Here are the 10 uncommon things we do in our family: · Do not allow ourselves to compare with the Joneses of our life.
Be contented with who we are, what we have and what we are set out to contribute in society.

The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley and William Danko has changed the way we view ourselves. · Be green.

There are many ways to live green or eco-friendly.

Do you know that almost everybody in our world, air dry their clothes? Why do we need to use dryers? I saw in Italy and New Zealand, in any seasons, they air dry clothes, even sheets and towels. New Zealand is one of the greenest countries in the world. To help safe energy and to lessen our waste, we can use proper plates and utensils instead of paper plates and Styrofoam cups. · Read. Most people do not even read books that stimulate their minds after leaving high school. 27% of adults do not read according to survey. Get out of junk fiction or magazines that are not beneficial.
· Discipline ourselves, our children and our dogs.

As a parent, discipline is not easy.

It is like doing the hard things.
Instead of taking the easy roads, we are always training ourselves to take the tough road.
Webster Dictionary defined discipline as training that develops self-control.

Do not allow your dog to 'poop' in my lawn! · Don't waste our energy chatting on the phone, face to face or online without purpose. Guard our tongue so we do not speak negatively of another.

Strictly, no gossip zone. Learn the art of encouragement and recognizing the good in the people we are in contact with each day. · Everybody is involved in a meal of the day.
For us, it will be dinner. We enjoy cooking, cleaning, preparing and planning together. Everybody learns to prepare, cook, clean, meal plan and budget. · Visit the elderly.

Go visit the elderly, bring them a meal and just sit and listen to them.

They are lonely.

· Know our why in life.
Every single family members need to know how they should function in the family unit and also their own 'why' for life. · Smile. Be the first to offer a smile to the people we meet.

It is good to offer a smile and make someone happy. There is friendliness and acceptance when we offer someone a smile.
It will also bring encouragement.

· Save money.

Watch what we spend.

Have a budget and stick with it. We need to save for rainy days.

There is always years of plenty and years of famine.

These are the 10 uncommon things we are doing this year.
Most are not new but visiting the elderly is definitely an activity we are going to pursue.

So, welcome to the uncommon.