A TIME FOR NEW BEGINNINGS

This is the time when almost everyone celebrates. Some of
us celebrate Hanukkah, others Kwanzaa or Christmas or one
of the other traditions, and almost everyone celebrates the
New Year - at least for business purposes. (Many people
around the world traditionally use other calendars.)
Whatever tradition you follow, this is a time for
reflection, renewal, affirmation and joy.
Personally, I don't think it's any coincidence that in the
Northern Hemisphere this week is also our Winter Solstice
which brings longer days, more light and the rebirth of
spring. No, I'm not advocating nature worship, but I am
saying that it's dark when I get up in the morning, and
it's dark when I quit in the afternoon, and I'm really
looking forward to warmer days and more light! My hunch is
that our ancestors felt pretty much the same way.
I understand that on his deathbed, the writer and
philosopher, Goethe's last words were, "More light!" and
on these dark winter mornings, I agree!
The combination of our traditional celebrations and the
start of a New Year make this a natural time to review the
past and preview the future. After all, even the sun is
coming back! (My apologies to our thousands of IMPACT readers
in the Southern Hemisphere - your time will come in June,
and until then please bear with my desire for "more light"!)
Through the year, we work hard. We are busy and we have so
much "stuff" to do that it is easy to lose our way, to take
loved ones for granted and neglect our values in the rush
to pay our bills and get through the day. We need the
holidays to "make" us slow down, decorate our homes, share
time with loved ones, and remember our roots.
We need time to renew and to remember and to re-align with
our most important values.
Sometimes, we get down on ourselves for getting caught up
in life and we use terms like "failure" just because we are
so busy with daily life that we fall short of our goals.
That sort of self-judgment is not only a waste of time, it
can become a way to avoid starting again and moving in the
direction you truly want to go.
I'm no sailor or pilot, but I LOVE the reality that ships
and planes are off-course almost the entire time they are
traveling to their destination. Wind and currents and
human failures and the thousands of "little things"
constantly toss them off-course.
Isn't that how life really is? We have a destination, of
course. We have values and desires, and we know our
ultimate goals, but much of the time we are tossed by the
winds and current of life. We happen to be swamped with a
project at work, or an illness at home. We get caught up
in a hobby or forget to say "I love you" as much as we
should. That's not "good", of course, but I think it is
real life. We are simply ships and planes, doing the best
we can and being tossed around a bit.
The difference is that sailors and pilots are never
surprised or discouraged or "lost" because a gust of wind
knocks them off-course. They simply adjust and keep right
on going and (this is important) almost EVERY ship and
plane does eventually find the right harbor or land at the
right airport. We should learn from that.
This holiday season, take time to review and affirm your
course in life. Take time to shop and do all the "stuff"
you have to do - that part is important - but in the midst
of the hoopla, sit down with a pen and paper to review and
remember your roots, your loved ones and your values.
Take a moment to review and re-affirm your goals and chart
a new course. If you've wandered a bit off-course, so
what? If you've been tossed and blown away from your major
goals, note that fact, plot a new course and get back to
work. A New Year is about to begin, and the sun is coming
back! Start over, start again. Even nature says it's a
time for new beginnings.