Today is January 1, 2010. Every year there are two invitations in the calendar to reflect on the year and start fresh: Rosh Hashanah and the Gregorian New Year, which started today; a new year and a new decade.
We bless this year for all we learned,
For all we loved and lost
And for the quiet way it brought us
Nearer to our invisible destination.
~ from "At the End of the Year," by John O'Donohue
Even the shorebirds did a little happy dance this morning for the new year.
Photo courtesy of JLR
The geese, ducks, quail and gulls were all puttering around together, preening and floating and searching for food. It lightened my heart to listen to them squawking and watch them waddling along.
I welcome these opportunities to take stock and do some internal housecleaning; usually I do some journaling, talk about the year with loved ones, and make some conscious choices about what I'd like to commit to for the new year.
The theme for 2010 revealed itself to me this morning over breakfast: NO MORE EXCUSES.
It is so easy to get caught up in procrastination, justification and oversimplistic excuses for not doing something important. It's time to write the books, file the piles, organize the finances and get rid of the clutter. And I need people in my life to hold me acccountable to the intentions and goals I set for myself. I used to be fastidious about things like this, and although I have relaxed A LOT, I am much less efficient than I used to be. I can be very sweet and clever with myself and my excuses. I can talk my way around, in or out of a lot of things.
Here is the bottom line for 2010:
I want to say what I mean and do what I say. I want to follow through on my intentions with passion and purpose. No excuses.
What is your internal destination for 2010? How will you know when you get there? Who will be traveling with you? Consider keeping a travel journal along the way. I'd love to hear about your journey.