And a new day, and a new moment, every moment. I love reminding myself that every moment is an opportunity for a fresh start. The end of the calendar year is a time of reflection, what I've done, where I'm going, where I want to go. It reminds me of the list I write when I go grocery shopping or do errands; the things I need to do/buy/remember in the present moment to allow me to do the activities I plan in the future, like cooking, household projects, creating art, etc. That list is extremely helpful for that present moment/moments but may not be exactly what is needed for the following day. That is how I feel now about New Years resolutions - they are wonderful for the days they are appropriate for, when they cease to bring me joy and move me in the direction of growth, then their usefulness to me has expired.
I think that reasoning is why when I read this quote by Aisha Elderwyn I felt a resonance with it:
"Every new year people make resolutions to change aspects of themselves they believe are negative. A majority of people revert back to how they were before and feel like failures. This year I challenge you to a new resolution. I challenge you to just be yourself."
There is a fairly new tradition I've witnessed others do but haven't done myself where you choose a word instead of a resolution. I wasn't planning on doing it, but little beknownst to me, the universe was. Yesterday a word came sailing in and landed smack dab in my lap of my consciousness, whispering in my ear "choose me, choose me". The word was flow......... I thought about it awhile and decided yes, I choose you too flow, to be my word for 2010. Makes perfect sense as i think about it - I do live on a river after all.
I leave you with pages from my 2010 journal...
