A New Year is Coming

I am not a resolution-making kind of girl. I used to be. I'd get all excited and gung-ho (where the heck did that word come from?), pick 2 or 3 things that I meant to do better, wanted to do more often, thought should be made more important. Then, with the rest of the crazies around me, I'd struggle through the next 2 months trying to make it all come about. Exercise more. Eat healthier foods. Cut down on the sugar. Get out of the house more often. Stay in better touch with my friends. At the end of a long line of unresolved resolutions I came to the decision that it was silly for me to 'resolve' once a year to be or do something better, especially when it involved a total overhaul of my then-current ways! This is not because I don't think I can be better or do more, but because I am actually trying to do these things year round - not just when it's fashionable! Stubborn, grumpy, and obstinate though I may be at times, I am who I am, and I pretty much just do things the way I do them. While I know some friends (and family members) would like it if I were more 'normal' or predictable or consistent, that's not likely to happen - this is me on my journey of becoming: like it or lump it!!

So instead of making fruitless resolutions at New Years, I have started my own personal tradition over the past few years of doing only 2 particular things:

• 1. I spend a half hour sitting outside in the snow dressed warm-warm-warm on New Year's Day with my back to a big tree (any big tree that seems warm and welcoming). Once I'm comfortable (and my bum has gone numb!) I begin by reflecting on the year gone by, and I think about all of the things over the course of the year that I'm grateful for. I send my thanks out into the universe, and say goodbye to the things of old. Then I think about the coming year, and think of the big dreams I want to come true. I send thoughts of happiness, welcome and refreshment into the universe as I welcome the spirit of the New Year into my heart, reflecting on some of my dreams for the coming year. Call it a conversation with nature and the universe if you will. Since I started this newish tradition for myself it has really helped me set the year off on a nice note; a grateful and happy note.
  
  
• 2. I think about a few new things I would like to do or try in the coming year. Maybe it's baking and decorating gingerbread men, maybe it's learning to change the oil in the new car, maybe it's making a special date with my mom or taking Mags swimming in a lake. I try not to make the things on the list too big and complicated - mostly I make the list to keep me thinking about the wonderful things the future brings.

This year I have just started thinking about my list - early even! Those things I rattled off up top actually seem like a good start, so maybe I'll start there... time to start building my list!