A Note on New Year’s Eve: Moving Forward

As the year winds down into its final hours, I am reminded by the beauty of beginnings.

This year has been a challenging one for many. It has also been one that has provided opportunities, offered love, and allowed for transformation to occur. It has had ups and downs. It has been authentic—painful and beautiful all at once.

Beginnings are magic. And even though the transition from one year to the next may simply be a flip of the calendar page, it’s something else, too. It’s the renewal of life, and our commitment to becoming the people we hope to be.

There is a poem that I read around this time each year by Max Ehrmann. It’s a longer piece of prose that you can find here.

In part, it says:

Take kindly the counsel of the years,

gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.

But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,

be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,

no less than the trees and the stars;

you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you,

no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

We step away, tomorrow, from the “counsel” of this year, and whatever it has brought. We will take the things we need, and the things we are working toward, with us. Trusting the process, and the quiet transformation that occurs within us each day, is a New Year’s resolution that we can hold onto.

Think back on what you have accomplished. Where were you this time last year? How has your life changed? What are you most looking forward to achieving as time goes on?

As the countdown to 2017 moves forward, remember the strength of spirit that Ehrmann refers to. The new year will rejuvenate that spirit, and give us a blank slate to re-begin.