We sigh at the relief of being blessed with the opportunity to say goodbye to the past year and welcome the forward-moving motion of the coming year. Our sighs echo those gentle waves as they renew hope in our dreams. And our dreams are plenty if we can imagine each dream representing a tiny grain of sand. When we put all those dreams together, it's quite a beautiful landscape to behold - the watery blue sighs uniting with the bright sparkles of hope. No wonder we like to walk barefoot on sand or get buried in it.
The end of the year is always a time for reflection, a way of appreciating how we were able to fit the grandiosity of our resolutions within the realities of our everyday lives. Compromise and flexibility are required to meet the challenges posed by circumstances beyond our control. And this past year, if you read the news like I did, you'd know just how much hardship some people faced around the world, and in our own backyards. Sometimes shrugging our shoulders and accepting defeat is the best way forward. It doesn't mean we give up on our goals; instead, we can use the lessons to re-fashion these goals so we're running (or walking) at roughly the same pace as our daily agendas.
Part of keeping with our resolutions is to know how fast or how slow to work on our goals. Half the battle is in knowing how much we can handle, but also how much we're willing to adjust to make room for the unexpected. That might take a lifetime to figure out as we learn to nurture an appreciation for and understanding of our bodies and our capabilities, the unpredictability and moodiness of nature, and also for the people whose lives constantly affect our own.
Life doesn't have to be a competition. We can locate our own Start and Finish Lines, and not worry so much about the "win". Every self-help guru I know keeps saying it's what's in between those two poles that count. I agree. People who come to that knowing and are patient with the ebb and flow, in my mind, are the ones who can go on to accomplish great things in their lives, never losing hope for what they believe to be their intrinsic purpose.
Happy New Year to my family, friends, colleagues, and the few stray readers of this blog. Thank you for giving me a wonderful 2013. No new dreams for me in 2014, only a renewed commitment to the ones I already have, the ones I will re-explore like a bright-eyed child grasping the sparkly sand as it cascades through her fingers.
