The presents have been unwrapped and enjoyed, the parties planned and now cleaned up after, the new calendars sit out waiting to replace the outdated ones filled with reminders of important dates and appointments of the year just past. It's another new year, a time of renewal and fresh starts, when we try and leave behind us the events of the past and look forward to a blank slate of endless possibilities and unknown adventures. Father Time makes way for Baby New Year.
It's also a time of reflection, if you are so inclined, as I find it entirely more helpful to reflect and review before proceeding forward. Perhaps that's something for me to think about and to craft a New Year's resolution to change; I know many feel it is more freeing and maybe even a little dangerous and fun to step first and ask questions later. Perhaps more balance is in order?
But maybe that's just who I am and how I roll. Which I think is the reason why so many people make resolutions at the start of the new year only to give them up or fall back into old habits once familiar routines descend again and life returns to the normalcy it is. Change is difficult, and permanent lasting change is something we distrust or fear a little, that fear of the unknown - the seeds of nightmares when you were younger - the dark, spiders, snakes, clowns, falling - its far easier to stay as you are when the alternative is something foreign and unknown.
We are truly creatures of habit, and by reviewing those habits one may discover attributes or behaviours within themselves that may be due for an overhaul - destructive lifestyle behaviours are a big one at this time of year - give up smoking, lose weight, exercise more and eat more healthily... there seem to be as many resolutions regarding these type of behaviour factors as there are individuals seeking to change them. Not that change in that regard is a bad thing, mind you, especially if it allows one to live a longer, more fulfilled life, and there is certainly a glimmer of hope for better things rooted in our desire to change our present situations and circumstances. A glimmer of hope that is at the heart of all change and all progress we make.
Reflection. Review. Resolve. Renew.
Sounds simple enough, right?
What's on your list of resolutions this year? Have you reflected deeply in all those dark, quiet corners of your life to uncover those secrets you keep so well hidden - the ones you'd be better off not bringing forward with you? The ones that keep you anchored in the past? The ones that still today, if opened and relived, bring back torrents of emotions and pain? Is it finally time to discard those ones?
Have you reviewed all the areas of your life, all the roles you have agreed to undertake in your everyday world, to see if maybe some of those roles no longer suit who you have become or are becoming? Do some of those roles need to be clarified or altered to better serve you? Can you rewrite the rules by which you live in any of those troubling areas to allow yourself more freedom to be who you want to be, while still performing the functions demanded by the roles?
After reflecting and reviewing, have you found any dead wood to be trimmed back to allow new growth to flourish? Have you identified what you would like the new year to look like for you? What accomplishments do you want to list on next years review as being completed? Bucket List? Dreams? Goals? Call them what you will - but ask yourself what motivates you? Who do you want to be this year? What steps must be taken to move toward that person? What can you do today to start the process in motion? What tiny initial step can you take to begin the transformation?
It can get pretty ugly and honest if you dig deeply enough and care enough about the outcomes to begin the process. There is bound to be much dust to shake off, and much digging to get to the real, concrete, foundation of who you are and who you are meant to be. Good old fashioned hard work and manual labour. Renewal requires work, but if the change is important to you, if you are to finally break free from the grasps of the past and what's been holding you back, you'll find the means and the strength to conquer the steepest climb. Don't fear the journey, embrace the adventure in front of you.
Let's see what mountains we can move this year.
All good changes take Time and they all begin with Baby steps.
Happy New Year!
