my two cents for the New Year

I have always liked making New Years Resolutions. It is like a game plan or a to do list. I like knowing what is expected of me before I start and this is a way to know what I should be doing in the coming year. In some ways I like making the list more than I like doing what’s on the list. When we used to drive to Kansas for Christmas I found that driving back across the barren plains and into the dreary land of enchantment until finally sloshing into the home land was fertile ground for me to brood and daydream, contemplate and deliberate waxing back and forth between the focus. I found inspiration just being in my mom’s well organized, well run home. But we don’t make that drive anymore since part of what attracted us to go to there has decided that wintering here makes more sense. So now I must come up with my list amidst the hustle and bustle of city life.

As I seemed to be having some difficulty this year I was pleased to hear Andy Rooney’s take on New Years. Like Andy, my New Years Resolutions are simple. I lost weight in 2009 so now I resolve not to gain it back. Always on my list is to become more organized. It is always there and probably always will be. I usually sort through and get rid of enough stuff through out the year that I don’t feel defeated (much), but I never quite manage to get the job done and keep it in check. Health and self improvement are a biggie for me but it is more of a hobby so I don’t think it needs to be on my list.

I asked the kids what is one thing they would like to accomplish in 2010. For Allison, to graduate. She is right on track to do that in the spring. Drew said not to get behind on his school work second semester. (and the mom broke out in song and dance for joy-quietly) Both very attainable.

Which got me thinking. Maybe that is what we need to focus on, the attainables. The accomplishable,  gettable, obtainable, possible, probable, procurable, reachable, realizable, securable. Pick your word-able. The one thing that we know we can do. Maybe we should be like Paul in his letter to the Phillipians. Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is a head. I press on… Philippians 3:13-14. Yes, I can do that. I can press on. I press on to do what I have been gifted with abilities to do. I press on to develop into the person God created me to be. I press on to never stop learning. I press on to nurture 2 of God’s greatest creations. I press on to live fully the life that has been given to me. I press on to be available and open to new areas of service. I press on. Not resting, but ready and available to live. Grandma Moses said “ Life is what you make of it. Always has been, always will be.”

"Over the years I have developed a picture of what a human being living humanely is like. She is a person who understands, values and develops her body, finding it beautiful and useful; a person who is real and willing to take risks, to be creative, to manifest competence, to change when the situation calls for it, and who finds ways to accommodate what is new and different."
-- Virginia Satir, American social worker and educator, 1916-1988