The first day of 2013 has been a fairly low-key affair. I awoke late this morning, having stayed up well past midnight puttering around on various websites when I should have been sleeping. I have learned something new about myself, or perhaps I am remembering something old: I shouldn’t do anything–make decisions or purchases or take actions –after midnight. Particularly as I have gotten older, I simply lack the rational thought or will power to accomplish much worthwhile late at night. This is a useful thing to have remembered about myself, and can take it under advisement. It’s a good thing that I’ll be getting back to work this week–most weeknights I’m headed toward sleep well before midnight, and am certainly not on my computer that late. In any event, because of my late night, I woke up way later than usual so everything was pushed back. I didn’t accomplish much in a tangible sense, but at various points throughout the day I could feel myself ruminating on some things that I believe will begin to reveal themselves to me over the next few days. These include some of the typical planning types of things that one does associated with the start of a new year.
Last year I set two very reasonable intentions–one of which I accomplished with reasonable completeness, and the other I didn’t do so well with. In between those two, however, I managed to make progress in a number of other personal and professional areas that I hadn’t written anywhere, so even though I experienced significant challenges in 2012, I still believe that the year was a good one. I am grateful for all the lessons learned, even those that felt painful. I’ve come to understand that so much of what I experience feels a certain way because of my perspective on it, and that if I can shift my perspective and see things even slightly differently, those experiences that felt so painful and difficult begin to lose their power. It’s a hard thing to describe, and I wish I had better words for it this evening, but I know it to be true: how I view things totally colors the way I experience them and the way I walk in the world. I make dozens of decisions each day about the things I choose to take personally, about what bothers me, what hurts, what makes me angry. And each time I have the opportunity to let go of the often knee-jerk reactions I have and let those things pass over me.
In 2013 I intend to spend more time pursuing peace, with as much of my attention and energy focused on the positive as I can muster. Even when things looked particularly dire and difficult, it was my ability to reach down and pull up a sense of gratitude for the things in my life that were good that helped keep me sane and whole. I fully expect that strengthening that particular muscle will serve me well in the coming year. I have a lot to learn about gratitude and hope to create time in the weeks and months ahead to spend more time reading and writing about it, as well as continuing to experience it in my daily life. In the meantime, I’ll keep exploring the gifts of gratitude in my life and sharing it here with you. Many blessings to us all in the year ahead. May it be so!
