And now it’s time to begin again.
New year. New resolutions. Fresh start.
Or are you beginning again for a different reason? A door closing. A course, run. A stage completed.
To begin again, to make a fresh start, we need intention. We need to acknowledge, accept, and move on. We need to shed our ways, preconceptions, and habits. And try something new.
Like a dragonfly crawling out of the pond, struggling out of its larval skin, and taking flight.
My fresh start is a combination of new year objectives and new stage-of-life possibilities.
On New Year’s Morning, I decided that presence, friendship, and focus would be my intentions for the year.
I need to be more present. I am too often planning and arranging, projecting myself into the future. That’s my nature and my habit, but by acknowledging that I lack presence, I can reign in the plans and sit for a while, linger, be more in the moment more often.
The moment, after all, is the life we are living.
Friendship has always been a priority of mine and I believe I am a good friend: someone who makes the effort, who can be relied on, trusted. But friendship’s importance has been magnified since becoming single, since my children have become adults, since becoming a writer, since social distancing and lockdowns. Friendship has become sacred. I intend to pray at its alter with even more vigour.
Friendship is in its essence, love, and is vital to thriving.
The third objective is to focus on writing my book – homing in on the message, conveying the point, getting it done. I aim to get it right and submit to a publisher later in the year. This year, I have a good chance of doing that. I have completed a challenging stage of my life; I have experienced a marriage breakdown, a move, a death, and a renovation.
Now I can move onto a new stage with a mind free to focus on something that is of utmost importance to me.
In the last few days of January 2022, I can honestly say I’m ready to begin again. Now it is time. Now, is a great time.
Whatever your stage of life, whatever your circumstances, each year can be treated as a fresh start. So can each day. So can each stage.
How are you starting 2022? With intent and resolutions? Or with tying off loose ends? Are you ready to shed your skin and begin again?
Picture courtesy of http://www.kidsdiscover.com
Carla Simmons Writer 