;)
The old year is gone, and along with it the thoughts, feelings, and actions of the old year.
A new year dawns beautiful, filled with energizing rays of sunlight, and the promise of peace.
Perhaps nature doesn’t pay attention to things like man-made dates. Those are only for us mortals to attach meaning to.
But in that case, I’m happy anyway, because my mind is changed. The birds sing sweeter, the breeze blows fresh and cool against my skin.
The headache of the previous year – both figuratively and literally – still lingers strong.
But the pain no longer scares away my smile. It can’t steal my joy, or rob me of hope.
Humans need something tangible when it comes to endings, beginnings, and fresh starts. A new year offers this.
From the sounds of it, I’m not the only one who had a tough year last year, a year that yesterday I took some time to despise and kick to the curb.
Today, though, I simply look at last year as a memory.
The lessons are learned. It’s time to move on.
Forward, upward, but always moving in a clearly defined direction. There may be disappointments along the way, sure – life is not all sugar plumbs and rainbows.
But focus on the little joys. The moments of beauty that didn’t have to be so beautiful.*
I may not have the perfect words to say, the deepest thoughts to convey on this gorgeous new year’s morning.
But I know I believe in the one who created it and set its motion in such masterful, beautiful order.
I believe in my ability to utilize the entirety of my humanity to produce value for myself and others.
And I believe that deep inside, even the most destructive negative people among us, with their warring and fighting, still have the capability to feel sadness and joy, to appreciate beauty, to be held in the clutches of fear.
Perfect love overcomes fear.
And true love is logical.
This year will be for me a returning to the root of who I am, who I believe at the core all humans were created to be.
If “God is Love” and I’m a reflection of my Creator, how then am I rationally defined?
Love is not what Hollywood paints it as. It’s not what my negative past experiences have clouded it as.
Love is positive and powerful and an unstoppable creative force for good.
If the greatest commandments and tools we as humans are given – regardless of your religious, pagan, or spiritual leanings – then how should a human life be defined, and then lived?
I will love my Creator, and seek to better understand the simple language which is woven through the fibers of every universal entity, from atoms to the stars.
I will love myself, always believing there is a purpose for my life, that it is good, and that I am perfectly equipped to succeed in every task I encounter on my journey through life. I will live my values every moment, and be worthy of my own love.
And as hard as it may be at times, I will love others. Logically, and only for values which they truly possess, but I will make a concerted effort to seek out the good in people and in those moments when I am connected with them, to love them for their good.
The rest, well, it really is just extemporaneous detail.
Details which fall into place as they should, when lined up by the grace and harmony of Love.
Maybe this will be the final year of life on earth. Maybe it will be a year of extreme transition. Or, maybe it will simply be another year to experience, laugh, love, & create.
I control the choices I make, the thoughts that I focus on, the person I become.
If I choose correctly and focus on the positive, logically the outcome will be movement in the right direction.
What more could I ask for? Motion, in the right direction.
Throw in love and smiles, and that’s a year to anticipate and chase after! :)
*Quote from my friend Matt Kuntz’s moving and thought-provoking book, Looking For Answers Through Dirty Glasses: Finding the Divine in a Challenging World