I have never been one for New Year’s resolutions. Maybe it is the long-running joke that resolutions never seem to last through January that makes me uninterested in them. Mind you, I do find myself thinking about the start of the year as a time for new beginnings. In the waning weeks of December and the first few days of January, I find myself thinking about changes I want to make in my life; activities I want to stop or begin, practices I want to pick up or put down, patterns I want to initiate or eliminate. In these quieter days after the holidays and before the semester begins, I begin to consider how I want to shape things differently in the weeks and months ahead. I guess that’s not terribly different from a new year’s resolution, but I prefer to think of it as mid-year reshaping.
Where do you want to make changes in your life or your practices as this new year begins? What would you like to pick up or put down? What are you thinking of making time to do or stop doing? What patterns of behavior or thought would you like to adjust? How would you like to reshape your way in the world here at the start of a new year, and the beginning of a new semester?
Milestones like a new year may give us a push, a reason to try the change now. Yet, we can make adjustments, re-structure things, or find a new beginning at any time. Changing the calendar (do people actually get physical calendars anymore?) may lead us to consider and reflect on our lives and how we want to reshape them, but every new day has potential for new beginnings.
As we settle into this year and get ready for the start of the semester in the coming days, my prayer for you and for me is that we will find some time to pause and reflect on changes, adjustments, or new beginnings we want to try. Academic goals, personal relationship changes, self-care activities, getting more sleep, or eating more veggies are just the start of how we may want to change our lives in the weeks and months ahead. If you didn’t start on January 1, you have not missed the chance. Life is an ever-changing journey. There is always time to adjust the route.
Happy New Year!
Peace,
Alicia