Happy New Year!!
I have reflected on 2016, and now I am ready to dive into 2017. I have a list of resolutions for the new year, but I have learned to keep those to myself. Resolutions are typically admissions of areas in which you have either previously failed or would like to improve. Under the right circumstances and with the right measure, I am an open book, but I am not prepared to give the world (or the few people reading this post) a complete list of my shortcomings and insecurities. Rather than a list of resolutions I want to share with you a single word that sums up the way I am looking at this new year: invitation.
A new year is an invitation - an invitation to be a better you - healthier, happier, wiser. It is an invitation to go anywhere and try anything with anyone. The beginning of a new year is bright and shiny, but at some point when that beginning ends, we may forget what a wonderful invitation it is. Here’s a little something to remember: the new year is an open invitation - when the novelty and excitement have worn away, we are still welcome to try new things, resume old hobbies, and embark on those personal journeys that will improve and, or forever change us. I want to remain enticed by the invitation that this year brings.
I want to let go of my inhibition and accept every possibility that this invitation holds for me. I want to develop some level of coordination and learn how to dance this year. I want to stand in the spotlight and sing my heart out, even if it’s just for karaoke night. I want to trade a bit of my alone time for new friendships. I want to do something out of the ordinary just for fun, like finally getting that pink streak in my hair (am I too old for that?) or getting a tattoo. I want to make something really beautiful with my own two hands. I want to meet someone really beautiful (inside and out, etc. etc - I know what matters guys). These are not resolutions, so much as options on my invitation. In this new year we are invited to make every self-realizing hope that we have a reality.
Throughout my life I have declined many invitations, and the likelihood is that I will decline more still, but the new year is an invitation that I would be remiss not to accept with gratitude and intention. I hope that you will also say yes to everything the new year has to offer, and remember that you are invited to do so all year long.