A Very Merry Happy New Year to You!

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Merry New Year!  Here's my first post of the new year!  It’s a new day! It’s a new year!  It’s a new time!  It’s time to start the most famous voicemails.  You know the ones.  They go something like this: 

                 You have reached _________.  I have made some changes, 

                 cut some things out of my life this year and if I don’t return your 

                 call, you know you are one of those.

 

It’s time to start diets that you know you won’t stay on; resolutions you intend to, but know you can’t keep; and become this entirely new person you know you will never become.   Now don’t get me wrong, I do believe that there can be some significance in a new year.  There is definitely a death/rebirth cycle to life and the New Year can signify that.  However, I don’t use the New Year to do that for myself.  I don’t make resolutions.  I don’t start diets.  I don’t profess that this will be my year.  The way I see it, every day that I wake is a time to choose a new way of life.  I’ll admit that I spent Dec 31, 2011 in a different frame of mind.  I had a burn party with my god sis. We wrote down everything we didn’t want to take with us into the new year on a sheet of paper and at the stroke of midnight, we burned the paper.  It felt cathartic.  And it was meaningful because I really didn’t take those things into 2012 with me.  2012 was a year of growth for me.  I felt like a phoenix rising out of the ashes of my pain, my grudges, my fears, and all the unhealthy things I was allowing to hold me back.  So when December 31, 2012 arrived, I felt good.  I felt at peace. In fact, I felt so peaceful that I actually didn’t even see the arrival of the New Year.  I was all cozy in my bed and fell asleep about 10 minutes before the clock struck midnight.   I didn’t feel the need to renew anything.  This morning in my exercise class, the instructor told us to take a picture of ourselves, weigh ourselves, and then we’d do it again in 6 months to see what we’ve done.  While I think that’s a great idea for someone who wants to commit him or herself to being more fit and healthy this year, I didn’t do it.  I don’t have to.  I exercise everyday.  I make it a point to eat healthy.  And when I don’t, I don’t beat myself up.  I just enjoy myself then get back to the swing of things. 

I can just tell I’m in a different space this year.  I wasn’t sad to see 2012 go. As I reflected over the year, I realized that it was a great year for me.  I matured and grew so much in 2012.  And what I really love is that I didn’t have to go through pain to get it.  I recognize now that while we do tend to learn from pain, we can actually learn from joy as well.  It’s just that we generally tend to not pay attention until the pain arrives.  So I didn’t have to burn anything this year. I’m not marching into 2013 with a list of what will and what will not.  Now I have no idea what 2013 holds for me, but I do know that I’m in a space where I don’t need a day to tell me to choose something new.  I committed myself to living better now (a la Jamie Foxx) a while ago and I’m going to continue to hold myself to that commitment, as I have every day since the day I made the commitment. 

Please understand I’m not knocking you if you made a resolution.  But I will encourage you to not put so much pressure on yourself while it’s new.  Just take a step, then take another one, and keep stepping until you achieve your desired goal. Don’t despair should you misstep.  Just catch the beat and start stepping all over again.  That’s just the nature of life.  You don’t need the first of the year, the first of the month, the first of anything to live abundantly, joyously, and lovingly.  You can choose to do it now and do it well.  So I hope you have.  Happy 2013 to you!