Today I am welcoming 2017 and the possibilities that come with a new year. After the excesses and indulgences of the holiday season, January always harkens in a period of austerity for my family, our winter Lent. Back to the basics of life, but with the hope of a new way forward.
It is the time of year for resolutions, and like most people I make them. And like most people I rarely keep them, losing them along the way as fresh excitement yields to daily drudge. Yet in the days leading up to the New Year, in the lull following the hustle and bustle of Christmas, I always find myself examining my life, and like my own little state of the union, pronouncing the good, decrying the bad and making declarations of intentions for the upcoming year.
2016 was a particularly troubling year for me. A series of debilitating blows that I muddled through and several good things that brought a whole lot of bad baggage and stormy weather along in their wake. Great friends. a loving husband, a strong family and a few bumbling stumble-steps to inspiration have brought me not to any particular resolution, or at least not to one I can name yet, but to a series of truths, actions, and activities that are important to me.
I have scribbled these down, the things I want to fill my days with, the things I need to remember, the things I desire for life, not for just this year. I may add to this list, or may discern a better way to write them, as I move further away from end-of-year reflection, but I have started with the basics.
Up by Seven
Coffee and Quiet
Study
Expect Less, Appreciate More
Write Your Life
Work Plan, Work Out, Word In
Go for a Walk, Clear Your Head
Slow Down, Look, Listen
A Whisper Is More Powerful Than a Yell
Live to Learn
Nourish, Encourage, Respect
Music–Listen, Play Everyday
Read
On Twenty-Five, Take Five
Focus
Teach Teaching, Not Correcting
Focus on the Destination, Enjoy the Journey, Yesterday’s Setbacks Are Yesterday’s Setbacks
Connect to People, Not Devices
Pray
Concentrate
Everyday Is a New Day
Count Your Blessings
Make Time to Snuggle Your Babies
Rest to Reset
Down by Eleven
Leona & Alexander 