December 31

 from Tucson 2014

 It is hard to believe it is the end of another year. Yeah, I understand a calendar is an artificial device, but it does give a place to stop and think about where I have been. It's a time to evaluate what is going to soon be 'last' year.
 
When I start a year, I rarely have a firm plan on what I will find in the days ahead. I usually have a few general goals, but I like to stay flexible, open to what comes along, and to changing my mind about ideas that didn't work so well. 2016 had surprises for me, some things I hoped to do and did not. 2017 is a new opportunity.

Sometimes a person can get to feeling stuck in a rut except we actually are not repeating where we have been. Life is a cycle, not a circle. So, like a river, we might be returning to the same place with the same cliffs and similar looking rapids, but the river is not the same. The water that had been there has gone on to the ocean, maybe to return as rain or snow. The river is always new.

Humans have often come up with ways to describe what they see of life and the cycle we are living or know others have lived.

For me, this is a good time to read a special book, watch an inspiring film, and look at quotes by others for ideas that might prove inspiring in terms of what we can do to make the year ahead all we want it to be.

"For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice.”
— T.S. Eliot

“This is the new year the new you. You can pass through another year, coasting on cruise control. Or you can step out of your comfort zone, trying things you have never done before, & make 2012 as the year that you elevate from where you are & soar high. Make it happen!”
-- Pablo

“What do you need in the New Year? You need a dream; your dream needs an action; and your action needs right thinking! Without right thinking, you can have only unrealised dreams!”
-- Mehmet Murat ildan

"You must not ever stop being whimsical. And you must not, ever, give anyone else the responsibility for your life.”
-- Mary Oliver

Of course, Mary Oliver has the greatest quote of all for living a life.

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
When it's over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.
"Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it."
-- Mary Oliver

Happy New Year! 

I hope the coming year will be a great one for you.