New Year's Day 2012. . .

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What an unseasonal New Year's Day, indeed! I'm sure there's more of winter to come but right now, having "spring" has thrown me all off kilter! I'm not complaining, mind you; I'm content with whatever comes. Except, maybe, when my basement floods. Then I tend to lean toward discontentment.

All the snowman decorations, all bundled up in their scarves and mittens, look a little silly with green grass as their backdrop. Say, are we allowed to call them snowMEN anymore? Maybe they are snowPEOPLE or snowPERSONS. "People of snow?" At any rate, if there are any snow "individuals" around this vicinity right now, they surely are not made of the real thing.

Traditionally, the beginning of a new year is a time for making resolutions. I used to try to do that but I don't anymore. Here's why: I believe resolving to learn, grow and improve is what we need to do on a daily basis just as "love in our hearts" should not be reserved just for Christmas. That's my theory and I'm stickin' to it.

Although I don't practice the formality of making specific resolutions, I do have a few plans in mind. I think it's important, before making those plans, to identify what patterns of my own are already in place and to be observant of their effect on others and of how I, myself, am affected physically, spiritually and emotionally. Without this process, I think we can often mislead ourselves to believe we are moving forward (because we're so busy) when we are, in fact, repeating a non-productive pattern time and time again (spinning our wheels.) Once immersed in this cycle, it's not easy to change course and the fact that we don't usually see it coming makes initiating changes even more difficult. That's why I feel the need for almost daily "check points" rather than a once-a-year resolution.

The more years that pass, the less willing I am to "spin my wheels." I used to believe this was due to impatience on my part - a character flaw to work on, I thought. Or, worse yet, giving up! The Serenity Prayer instructs us to accept what we cannot change, to change what we can and to seek the wisdom to know the difference. Knowing the difference is the hard part, I believe, and something to think about every day.  I'm not really sure what things might change for me this year.

One thing for sure, time is precious, time doesn't wait, time is the most valuable thing we have and my plan for 2012 is to not waste any of it but to listen even more closely to God's nudges when considering how to use it!

Since 2012 has "come in like a lamb," will it "go out like a lion?"  Oh......wait a minute......that's March!