Happy New Year
Learning To Live…Again
I sat down a couple of weeks ago to begin my favorite task of every year. To create a list for the new version of me I hope to meet over the next year.
With every strike of the pen she’s not as tired, sticks to her hobbies, enjoys sitting down to work, and loves to write! The listed version of Josie is so…productive. And joyful. And full of gratitude. I wonder if it feels as good to live in a list as it does to make one?
In creating 23 for 2023 I reviewed last year’s list – 22 for 2022. Reading all I’d written had me chuckling. Boy did I have high hopes! The word I chose for 2022 was “Progress.” I could not have chosen a more fitting word. The year was nothing short of progress for me.
At every turn, I put one foot in front of the other, absolutely positively refusing to get knocked down. That’s the only way to climb a mountain right? One small step after another large step after another small one. You never reach the summit if you lay down and give up. Ever.
I did not complete a single task on my 22 for 2022 list. I almost finished 21 books. Let me tell you, putting the 21st book down and not rushing through it took a mighty act of God. I promised myself at the beginning of last year that I would not rush through anything so I refused to rush through the book just to cross one item off my list. I read slowly. Felt every feeling that every word was meant to deliver. Each description transported me through the words into the world of Charlie Barnes. Now, the book is on my nightstand, page folded, ready to be opened and enjoyed. I have no idea where the book is taking me, but I am down for the ride.
I could not foresee the routes I would take to end up back in bed in the city I love with the people who love me the most. But today, and most days, I am down for the unexpected ride.
I do hope the new year brings about changes. More physical & mental engagements, a steady income, social events with friends…yet I know there is no manifestation without movement.
This year I’ve chosen a word I hope to hear more often and to incorporate into my daily life.
Action! Yes, it’s expressed with the exclamation.
May this year be about moving forward, stepping backward, getting up, down, all the world the way around. May we all realize that maybe our wildest dreams in life haven’t come true (yet) but we are all still here. Take a deep breath. Relax those frozen muscles. Get up. Get out. Do whatever it is you gotta do to make this tiny little moment inside a million other moments worth the life we forget we are living too often.
