We stand at the end of another year: minutes ticking by as we anticipate 2023; waiting to revel in new beginnings; ready to celebrate... what? If it weren't for the calendar year changing and our traditional or cultural expressions of Endings and Beginnings, I would wonder WHAT are we celebrating?
After all, look at our responses these past few years to COVID, our political divisions, and our social unrest! Are we celebrating these... or the desire to be released from them and begin anew?
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| Are you experiencing turbulence in your life? (Photo: Storm at Sea - Larry Gardepie) |
I don't want to be too negative on this final day of 2022, but I am trying to understand why we think things will be any different next year if...
- We make resolutions that we don't intend to keep, or
- We aren't more civil and understanding to one another, or
- We don't put thought and time into changing the turbulence in our lives.
After all, there are individual and social responsibilities in starting anew:
- Accepting our role in past misunderstandings.
- Realizing that change cannot happen without self-transformation.
- Creating a better future that begins with each decision we make.
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| Where can you create beauty? (Photo: Rouen Cathedral, Rouen, France - Larry Gardepie) |
As I reflect on this past year -- those areas where improvements are needed -- and what I want to accomplish during this Year Unwritten, I yearn to discover beauty, seek peace, and work towards harmony. I don't need to give up what I believe in or my value system. Instead, I must stay open to the opportunities that present themselves: seeing people as Gifts Unopened and Surprises Awaiting.
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| How will you build peace and harmony? (Photo: Two Bridges, Dartmoor National Park, England - Larry Gardepie) |
Walking along a mist-shrouded roadway to take a picture of Two Bridges -- where the guide told us about the bridge and most people stayed on the roadway to take their pictures, I chose to wander off-course down the incline... and was surprised by a new perspective of the bridge's reflection in the serene waters below.
Being willing to go off-course, allowing biases and prejudices to soften, and anticipating a surprise will create an experience much different than if we remained where everyone else is rooted in what was told to them. I can discover beauty... I can seek peace... I can work towards harmony... if I am willing to change... and expect to be surprised.
May this New Year invite each of us to go off-course enough to move past turbulent times and reflect new beginnings in our hearts and minds.
Blessings to 2023!
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