Serenity
Yes we have all heard that resolutions are meant to be broken. But is there anything that really compares to the joyous and naive innocence of a brand new year (and decade) with its brilliantly shining promise of fulfillment? Like a world that has been draped over with a soft serene blanket of freshly fallen snow, the turning of the calendar year casts dreamy illusions of forgiveness, of erased tablets and buries forgotten promises made in the earnestness of the one before. It is a amnesiac quiet resolve that drums firmly within us that says, this time, it will be done. So yes, like many others before me I record my aspirations for the months to come. Before I unveil it for all to see, I find it remiss if I fail to mention what 2009 has unearthed.
2009 was a year of anticipated newness, a joyous chapter stained with the darkness of life’s randomness. A happy new marriage, a relocation years in the making, a terrible life-changing accident and the epiphany that follows, a ruinous economy and a new presidency, a beautiful birth of a baby girl and the tragic passing of a beloved pet. It was a year that rang the gong of what it means to be alive-reverberating with its tinkling highs and soul-shaking lows.
Sentimental recollections in mind, 2010 feels almost inescapably destined to be a year of resolutions. Thus, here are mine, in (slight) order of importance:
1. To make a living doing what I love and am passionate about, and in doing so, continue to flesh out my own unique personal style
2. To improve focus, discipline and follow-through in all my endeavors
3. To strengthen my core and finally develop a mind-and-body sharpening physical routine
5. To volunteer within my community and connect with like-minded folks
6. To continue to find ways to cherish my loved ones
7. To sharpen memory skills and train my right/left brain skills
8. To read and finish more books
9. To eliminate the petty diversions that numb everyday life