Ahhhh! It is over.
Everything is cleaned up. Tree and decorations are put away. Clutter has been disposed of and everything feels fresh. I’m ready to begin again.
Don’t get me wrong – it’s not that I don’t enjoy the holiday season; it’s just that I really like the feeling of getting ready to start something new. To begin again. To have a “clean slate” in front of me. It’s the feeling I get when I open a fresh notebook. The empty pages are filled with possibilities.
Natasha Bedingfield says it best in her song, “Unwritten”.
I am unwritten.
Can’t read my mind, I’m undefined.
I’m just beginning. The pen’s in my hand. Ending unplanned.
….Today is where your book begins. The rest is still unwritten.
Despite the cold, wintry weather and the fact that I’d rather be on a sunny beach somewhere, I love the feelings that January brings.
Some people like to make resolutions for the upcoming year. Some think it’s a waste of time, knowing that they will only break them within a few days or weeks. Some make resolutions without really thinking about what they are and how powerful they can be.
I’m a resolution maker, only because it gives hope for a better me, optimism for a better future and it’s an excuse to get a new planner and notebook.
January was actually named after Janus, a Roman god of doors and beginnings. Janus had an interesting characteristic: he had two faces. With one face, he looked back over the past year to review his mistakes and his successes. With the other face, he looked into the future to make plans for the new year, and to consider what he needed to do to experience success.
It’s interesting to think how similar we are to Janus…except that most of us don’t have two heads. We can look back to review our past and we can look ahead to determine what our future will be like.
How exciting that by taking time to create a vision we can “pre-live our lives”. January can be a time when we dream of a new year full of possibilities and plan for more satisfaction and success. We can create a vision of what we want our futures to look like. We can “pre-live” the things that we will accomplish and the person that we’ll become.
So. do it! Even if it hasn’t worked out in the past; you’re older and wiser now. Go get a new planner and a new notebook. Write down the things that you loved about last year, the experiences that made you stronger and where you want to improve. Then “look” into the future. “Pre-live” your life for 2017 by envisioning what you want to have happen. Create your plans and then commit to do what it takes to make them a reality.
What’s your “pre-lived” life and resolutions for 2017? Are you a resolution maker or do you think it's a waste of time?