Promises for the Coming Year
As we head into the closing of one year and the dawning of a new one, I find myself thinking a lot about endings and beginnings. Eastern philosophers tend to view the end of something not as a door slammed shut, but rather more like a track switch. Our train may be diverted, at times rather joltingly, but the journey continues—perhaps not quite as we thought it would, but no less full of potential than before.
Looking through that lens, I know that in this new year, I will do all that I can to pursue that which holds meaning for me—some familiar things, some I did not get to do before…and some not yet known to me. And too, I know that there’ll probably be track switches along the way.
I know all too well though, that the only way I can get completely knocked off the track is if I buy into those dreadful messages designed to do me, my intentions, and all of my dreams, in. Messages like: “You don’t have what it takes to…” and “What’s the use?” and “Why bother?” and, “I guess it just wasn’t meant to be,” and the killer, “You’re too old to…”
Oh yes, this new year will be rich with all sorts of possibilities and opportunities. Let this stand as my official notice that I’m all buckled up and ready for the ride.
“The secret to a rich life is to have more beginnings than endings.” — Daniel Weinbaum, American Businessman and Writer
“I wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious. Ambiguity.” — Gilda Radnor
“Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.” — Meister Eckhart
May you see the coming of this new year as an opportunity to be who you want to be and do what you want to do.
Enjoy your day!