Promises Arising

We are within the first week of a new year:  How are you doing?  Have you recovered from the holiday season... the travel, family gatherings, Christmas plays, concerts, and parties?  Are you tired or energized?  Did you make any resolutions... and how are you doing in your resolve?  What is your outlook on this new year... a Leap Year... a Presidential-Primaries-and-Election year... a Summer Olympics year?

So many questions... and hopes, dreams, desires, and promises for a Year Unwritten!

What beauty is rising in you today?
(Photo: Sunrise at Sea - Larry Gardepie)

It's like the sun rising each morning: if we are awake and look closely, we might see Beauty Changing before our eyes.  The palette of Colors Unending as the Painter-Creator reveals the New Day Rising before us.  Can we linger in these moments of awe and discovery?

As mentioned in earlier posts, we have a Choice in how we show up and how we respond.  Whether tired or energized, we are invited to Awaken... to Slow Down and Notice:

• What is being said or unsaid;
• How we respond or don't respond;
• Whether we choose to stay in relationship or not.

The choices may be small or large at the best of times, but when we encounter dark moments, it is good to be reminded that we have the Freedom to Choose!

Can you rest in this beauty and be at peace?
(Photo: Sunrise near Nuuk, Greenland - Larry Gardepie)

I am reminded of people who have survived their darkest nights during World War II -- people like Elie Wiesel, Corrie ten Boom, and Viktor Frankl.  In their writings, we hear of the atrocities they encountered or suffered.  We also hear how faith, kindness, and human dignity informed their choices:  to survive, remember, forgive, and accept the pain and darkness.

Viktor Frankl shared the following insights:

"When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves."

"Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

He also describes a space that exists between stimulus and response.  "In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom."

Will you see light streaming beyond any darkness?
(Photo: French Polynesian Sunrise - Larry Gardepie)

This is why slowing down and noticing are so important in dialogue practices and in relationships:  The Pause provides the space to choose!

The message I am considering during these New Born days of 2024 is the importance of protecting the freedom of choice -- for myself and others.  I assume that many of us see and experience life differently due to our cultures, upbringing, faith and religion, politics, and many other ways.

What choices will you make this year?
(Photo credit: Mandy Hale, Victory Community)

My prayer and hope is that we can listen and learn from these varied experiences... and choose to keep an open mind.  The invitation is to live honestly and authentically according to the values and truths that we were taught and have accepted.  The challenge is to honor our experiences and truths while respecting those of others.

It is possible!  Remember, we have a choice!

 

What are your thoughts about this New Year?
 

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

(click on link for website)