Sunday, December 31, 2006

Transitions

This is an in-between day -- we're looking back on the year that ends at midnight, and ahead to the new one that begins at 12:01 a.m. It's a good time for reflection on what was, is, and to be.

Sorta like Scrooge in A Christmas Carol where he encounters the spirits of past, present and future Christmases...

It's also a wonderful time to ponder what you want for the coming year -- resolutions, I suppose, although I think that resolutions also invites failure to accomplish said resolutions.

I'd rather think of them as intentions, as does Joanna Powell Colbert (whose observations on this 'time between' includes a number of interesting links that kept me reading until late last night). Maybe that's splitting hairs -- but it doesn't invoke the sense of guilt I always feel when I fail at keeping a resolution (like not eating the rest of the Christmas fudge in the interests of losing that 20 lbs. -- a resolution that most assuredly WILL be broken)

My intention is to return to the reality of smaller portions, fewer sweets and rich or fatty foods (that are not part of my daily diet anyway -- but in which I've indulged more often this year), and better awareness of what I'm putting into my mouth and stomach, stopping when I'm satisfied rather than continuing to eat because it tastes good.

My intention is to incorporate regular physical activity into my everyday schedule. Not a hard-and-fast I will walk two miles every single day, rain or shine or a join-the-gym-even-though-I-know-I'll-stop-going resolution. Just something more than what I've been doing, more regularly.

My intention is to clear out or organize some of the clutter in the office and the house: find a place on the bookshelves for my parents' photo albums, for instance, and in the finding, also tidy the stack of my own photos into something more identifiable.

And so on. Not specific tasks, but general intentions. I think that'll take me farther and more happily into 2007.

2007 is a milestone year for us: we will turn 60, along with thousands of other baby boomers. Like all the decade birthdays, it seems a good one to reevaluate priorities and habits, and discard those that don't work anymore. While that's an ongoing process no matter what age, it calls for some additional contemplation this year as we look for the path that will take us into this new decade.

I am glad to see 2006 end: it was a difficult year emotionally. Much of the year was focused on simple maintenance: doing what I needed to do for business, home, and family, but not anything extra or new, and sometimes pushing just to get through the job. There was a big sense of duty, but not much joy.

It was a year of loss and tears and letting go, although I think the latter is a constant challenge through all of life: to let go of the shoulda-coulda-wouldas and the regrets, and to carry the memories lovingly rather than painfully.

I want more delight next year, more pleasure, more joy. I want to cultivate the ability to find that in even the most ordinary of days. I am pretty good at finding gratitude in daily life: I want joy too.

This year has reinforced the importance of family and friends in my life. Even in our strength, our lives are fragile and everything can change in a second. I say thank you more often. I tell my family and friends that I love them, and how blessed I am to have them. I try to remember that anything else is just 'stuff' --

My mantra for 2007:
May I be filled with loving kindness.
May I be well. May I be happy. May I be free from suffering. May I be filled with joy. May I be at peace and at ease.

And my wishes to you for this year:
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be well. May you be happy. May you be free from suffering. May you be filled with joy. May you be at peace and at ease.

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