My New Year

The idea of a new year grows more precious--and a bit more tenuous--as we age.  Now that I'm well into my fifties, each year that I live is closer to the end--and each new year that arrives is, of course, more likely to be my last one than the years that came around when I was in my twenties or thirties.  As we grow older, we hopefully learn to appreciate the preciousness of the time that we have here and do our best to make the most of it while we have it.

With that said, one of the things that happens in my mind is that I realize that the coming year is one of my later years, and it's very important to me to make the most of it.  It's important not just not to waste the time I've been given, but to use that time to accomplish things that are important in life.  I'm not talking about a checklist of major achievements; I'm not about to write the world's best novel ever during the coming twelve months.  But there are many things that I can do during this time that I have that will contribute to the positive side of this world and that will make my own life more pleasant, more enjoyable, and more productive.

So when a new year comes around, I have to ask myself a different question nowadays:  What special things can I do to make sure that this is a good year, as it very well may be my last?

And by the way, I don't consider this to be a negative perspective at all.  Everyone dies, and I'm no exception.  I'm not going to deny that fact.  And I don't really consider death to be all that negative a thing--I'm actually kind of curious to find out what actually does happen when we "pass on" from this world.  I'm not going to actively search out that answer, but when the time does come for me to learn it, I'm sure it will be fascinating.

So in this new year of mine, I'm determined to have fun.  I'm going to enjoy what I'm doing, and if I'm not enjoying it, then I'm going to stop doing it.  By enjoyment, I don't mean things that make me laugh out loud or that are completely stress-free.  I love teaching, for example, and I enjoy doing it, but it does cause me an awful lot of stress.  The stress is worth it, though, and even when I feel overwhelmed and stressed out, I'm still enjoying teaching.  I also enjoy running and talking with friends and writing and going for long walks and long drives--there are plenty of things in this life that I truly enjoy doing, and I'm going to do more of them.

I don't enjoy petty little arguments over trivialities, and I don't enjoy being around people who are mean, destructive, and belittling of others.  I don't enjoy certain social situations, and I don't enjoy boring presentations, meetings, sermons, or anything else for which I'm expected to sit quietly while someone else bores me to tears.  So I'm going to avoid such things to the best of my ability.

I'm definitely going to read more.  When I read, I learn, and when I learn, I feel that I'm accomplishing one of my greatest goals as a human being on this planet.  I love to learn and I believe that learning as much as I can about as many different things and ideas as I can is one of my most important tasks to accomplish here.  When I read, I learn about life and human nature and science and philosophy and poetry and feelings.  I learn through the eyes and mind and heart of someone else who has put into words things that I haven't yet thought of.  Novels, non-fiction, poetry, articles, essays--they can all help me to expand my perspective and make me more aware of what's going on in our world and in the hearts and minds of my fellow human beings.

This year I'm going to focus on unity and oneness.  I'm going to do my best to keep in mind with every interaction with every person the fact that we belong together, we need one another, and that we share this world together, not in separateness.  I'm going to keep in mind that this person's well-being is intricately involved with my own well-being, and that the way I treat other human beings and animals helps to determine the quality of life for me.  We are not separate from one another--we just pretend that we are to make life a bit easier for ourselves.  Easier, perhaps, but not more fulfilling and not richer.

I'm going to be an encourager.  I'm going to look for the positive in all the people that I meet and I'm going to actually tell people the positive that I see.  I'm going to let people know that I appreciate them and I'm going to encourage them to do the things that they love to do rather than criticize them for not doing the things that I think they should do.  I know that people respond much, much better to encouragement, so I'm going to do my best to make encouragement something that happens as second nature in my life.  I want to give encouragement and help to contribute to the positive of the world, and in order to do so I need to commit myself to making the effort all the time.

I'm going to be a giver.  I often hold back on giving because I'm not really sure if giving is the best thing for the recipient, or because I'm afraid that if I give something away, I may need it myself soon.  I'm going to check my worries more often, keeping in mind that in all the years I've been here, I still haven't run into problems created by me giving something away.  And all of the doubts that I have had about others needing to do things themselves rather than being given something have turned out to be groundless.

I'm also going to work hard at letting go of things that I think are important.  As I get closer to the end of my life, I'm learning that almost everything that I thought was extremely important has turned out to be rather unimportant.  Yes, it's important to have money, but so many of my worries over the years have been unfounded ones about money, so I can work on letting go of my dependence upon money.  I have tons of books and cd's that I don't really need because I don't have time to listen to all the music and read all the books--and I don't need to keep them "just in case."

The main things that have turned out to be truly important have been my relationships with other people--the people close to me to whom I can give my love and my support; the students I work with, with whom I can share my knowledge, my encouragement, and my teaching skills; and all the other human beings on the planet, even those I see for only a few moments who may be in need of a positive word of hope or a sincere compliment.  So I'm going to work on spreading the positive and minimizing the negative.

There's much more that I'm going to try to do with this new year, but I think that what it boils down to is the ongoing struggle to pare down life to its essentials, and getting rid of whatever I have in excess.  In relationships, it comes down to spending time with other people without having unrealistic expectations of them or their actions--simply enjoying their company is enough.  I want to have a simple life that isn't bogged down by possessions or wants or judgments, and if I'm to have that life, it's up to me to make it, and if I want to make it, it's up to me to consciously start the process.  And when is better to start such a process than at the start of the newest year of our lives?

And on the first day of each month, I can start again.

And on the first day of each week, I can remind myself of what I want and start again.

And in the first hour of each morning. . . .

   
More on the new year.