So, 1.1.11 has dawned. You won’t be able to write that date again for another century you realise (as well as some similar looking variations like 11.1.11 and 1.11.11 and 11.11.11 which also won’t come around again for a hundred years), and I wonder what’s in store. More of the same, or will I be brave enough to make some changes, take on new challenges or think outside the box.
Looking back at Jan 1st last year, and never one to usually make New Year resolutions, I had intended to exercise more in the hope of losing 5 kilos of unwanted spare tyres and associated misshapen bits. Well, the 5 kilos has now become 8, so that obviously didn’t work. Three run ins with reliving my back injury from years ago didn’t exactly help, but as they say, if you want to do something bad enough you’ll find a way, if not you’ll find an excuse.
My doc reckons Tai Chi would be a good way of helping my range of movement, so there’s something to explore. Won’t help the flabby bits, but anything that improves my body’s well being at this time in my life can only be a bonus. Trying new things to improve my physical agility is one thing, but how often do I challenge myself to strengthen my emotional and spiritual well being.
I recently turned 60, bit of a milestone, but I can’t see myself slowing down and reaching for the fluffy slippers just yet. I love coming across older people who still have that vital spark, who engage with others in community work or support charities in whatever way possible, who see that all of life is a journey, and that our learning years are not over once we leave school or work. Broadening our minds and horizons for the sheer heck of it, or because we feel called to serve others, will keep us alive in more ways than one.
John Lennon penned today’s blog title, with the added line of let’s hope it’s a good one, without any fear. For some that would be expected, with no likelihood that anything out of the ordinary should come along to upset existence as they know it. For others, the expectation of the immediate future is anything but that. To be in a place where there is peace, where you are accepted and respected for who you are, where there is no likelihood of gunfire in the night, bombs raining down on you, attacks on your family or home or country, would for countless many be a totally foreign experience.
Without wanting to begin the year on what might sound like a depressing note, news reports which bring us the daily holiday road toll will already mean that for some families life as they know it has just changed forever. For me, family tragedies which occur around Christmas time have a particular poignancy, for they must inevitably affect the way family members view Christmas in the future. Though time heals the rawness of pain and loss, what is usually celebrated as a time of hope, peace and joy, of gathering the clan together, will always be tinged with sadness.
So, as 2011 kicks off, spare a thought for those whose year wasn’t brought in with fireworks, fun and laughter. Highs and lows, tragedies and triumphs are simply part of life, and how we face them or help others face them will be a mark of our true character. Resilience in the face of adversity is played out on our TV screens and in our lives every day, a trait much to be admired.
It’d be nice if we could all start with a clean slate come January 1st each year, to leave behind the unnecessary stuff which clogs up our lives and look ahead with renewed hope and vigour. Maybe we can’t wipe the slate clean as far as our past is concerned, but what is past is part of who we are, but not all of who we are. The potential for change is there, the prospect of something new is always out there waiting if we’re game.
Happy New Year…let’s do more than hope it’s a good one, let’s make it a good one.
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