Like everybody else, I exist in the now. Where I have been does not indicate where I will go, and all I have known will be a portion of all that I know. Yet, all that is there is subject to change. My terms and conditions will, no doubt, be rearranged to accommodate fears, and folly, and facts still uncertain, as I realize or discover my potential inertia. Matter it is, matter it does. I am not yesterday, nor am I today. Tomorrow is simply another way. Time will not determine where I will go, or whether I stay. Who I am now is not all you need know, anyway. I am more than I thought; I am all I am not.
All winds blow harsh, January’s breath seeps deep to the marrow. Come inside. Leave your boots by the door and make time for stocking feet and stillness. Find warmth and comfort beyond this weekend.
We are all the same, yet different. Each of us has a purpose, desires, skills, thoughts and beliefs. We all breathe, and we all bleed, yet our concerns will vary, as will our needs. Many of us are quiet, while some of us loud, but we can all be ourselves and still be a part of the crowd.
As we tear the cellophane off a brand new year and look forward to what will come in the weeks and months ahead, it’s only natural to set goals and intentions. It is what we do as a society; common practice for our lives and times.
We make resolutions to find deeper sleep, exercise more, eat better, save more money, and complete all those things we have started. Often, in doing so, we set ourselves up for disappointment.
I’m not going to make any resolutions this year. Yes, I’ve got things that need to be tended to, and so much stuff in a perennial state of ‘almost done’, but I’m not going to make an exhaustive list and cave under the pressure of expectations.
Instead I’ve set a motto I hope will carry me through the year: Try to live tomorrow a little better than today.
It seems pretty simple to me. Each day I will try a little harder to get stuff done, I will try to communicate better than I have in the past, try to be a little kinder, and I will try to enjoy things that come my way without overthinking how they came to be.
I will try to make each day a little better.
Now, I’m not sure there is a quantitative method of measuring my progress, and I’m not really going to look for one. Don’t we already have enough checks and balances built into our lives? And as soon as you attempt to put some system of metrics in place, it just becomes a numbers game.
I am going to let my emotions and feelings determine how the day has been, or will be. I will make an honest, authentic attempt daily in some way. I will try because trying is the only way anything will happen.
The moment you stop trying is the moment you begin dying, and I have far too much to live for.
