Ten thoughts for the new year
I suspect that sometimes we overplay the significance of the new year, but I sense that the arrival of the new year can mean important change.
So I offer ten thoughts on making the most of this fresh start. 1) Focus on progress, not perfection. Perfection is certainly the enemy of the truly good. 2) Realize that your problems are often not everyone else's fault; the blame game only gets in your way. 3) Begin to address your addictions. Your alcoholism isn't your fault, but not doing something about it is; 4) Start to move beyond your anger and the grievances that accompany or cause it. 5) Open yourself to new people, cultures, food, and experiences. Your little world and country is just that: little. 6) Commit yourself to a healthy community. Rabid individualism isn't serving us well. 7) Support that community through active involvement. Tend to your family. Since it is the place where we discover our base line sense of worth, it often is the hardest community to reconcile with. But the family is in it for the long haul for you. 9) Be intentional with gratitude, for after all, this journey called life is sheer gratuity. So (10) Do any or all of these things with grace, for grace is the bottom line truth of life.