New Beginnings

Thank you so much for the positive feedback on my new header. I'll put together a how-to later this week when my work slows down a bit (crossing my fingers and hoping I didn't just jinx myself).

My job is starting what we call the "launch phase". What this means is that I'm traveling more, getting less done, and my to do list both professional and personal is growing. Yet today is one of my favorite days of the year. In spite of all the busy and bustle around me, it is a day of reflection. It is Ash Wednesday. Around the world there are people taking a moment to ponder the meaningful things in their life. Some do it because the leader of their faith says they should, some do so for profoundly personal reasons unrelated to any religious belief.

I suppose I could make resolutions at New Years like most folks, but I don't. I wait for this time of year. Signals of spring's arrival have begun to appear. Outside it is still cold, but there is more green & brown, than white & grey. For me, the changes occurring now with Mother Nature are more inspirational for making new beginnings than the cold, bleak, middle of winter weather of January.

So I resolve to plan more. Wishing, hoping, wanting without action causes only stress and disappointment. I will plan for my wishes and when I don't, I will acknowledge that perhaps it's not such an important want.

I resolve to choose important over urgent. This will be a tough one for me. My job is all about hurry up and wait. I live in an area that is materially better off than many in the world. In general there is fostered an atmosphere and attitude of keeping up with the Joneses. I have to remind myself that today's impulse will be forgotten next week. There is a bigger picture, a more important picture in the long run.

I resolve to relax. It is just a (insert object/activity of the moment). Any frustration that I am experiencing with said item is okay. It is okay to walk away and try again tomorrow. It is okay if it isn't right the first time. If I'm honest, and that is a big part of today, this is applicable to the people I interact with as well.

I resolve to forgive. As I have gotten older, I find that my tolerance has gotten shorter. I always thought that behavior belonged to my parents, but never me. :) Ideals are great and important to have, but not if they replace reality. Ideals should act as guides not rules for the person I am. Sometimes the effort truly is more important than the results.

For many, the next forty days are about sacrifice and discipline. For myself, it is about starting over, trying again, and ending better than I began.