Happy New Year

Happy New Year to you and yours! It finally snowed here so I begin this post with an image that resembles a tiny firework, a bit of blue spruce in my front yard graced with tiny snowflakes. After the devastating end to the year in our area, the gift of beautiful snow is most welcome.

Today I want to share some thoughts to launch the year with.

Resolutions

Do you make them? How do you feel about them? I don’t make them and here’s why – to me every day is a new day to do my best, so the turning of the annual calendar page doesn’t carry heavier significance for me. Besides, to me resolutions seem to focus on eliminating negative personal aspects rather than creating more of the good things. I think those things can be shed without so much pomp and circumstance, any day, every day. And that energy is best spent in a positive manner.

Let It Go

From The Journals of May Sarton Volume 1, this message resonates with me and is a beautiful way to start the year.

“I think of the trees and how simply they let go, let fall the riches of a season, how without grief (it seems) they can let go and go deep into their roots for renewal and sleep…

Imitate the trees. Learn to lose in order to recover, and remember that nothing stays the same for long, not even pain, psychic pain. Sit it out. Let it all pass. Let it go.”

I like the idea of shedding things that no longer serve us as easily as a tree sheds its worn out leaves. There’s no drama about it, no clinging, but rather grander vision for what lies ahead. Renewal, new layers, new leaves. Let go and there it is.

Control and Choice

The other message I want to share today comes from The Daily Stoic, by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman. This is my third time through the book, but as with the layers above, each time I come back to a passage it carries new meaning. My life experiences add new dimension and perspective.

May we all go into this new year honing in on our internal sense of what is within our control and what isn’t, and then acting upon what is ours to act upon. We don’t need resolutions to act, but rather responsibility and ownership. Stop talking about it and go do.

Happy New Year

May we all make the most of this new year. In health, happiness, and joy!

If you have landed on this page from an external link, please go HERE to read from the beginning. Otherwise, click on the next title below to continue.