Five Rejuvenating Resolutions for 2020

Welcome to a brand new year and decade. Something wonderful is coming into being.

In a world that often seems bent on dashing our hopes, we triumph over all that today. It presents us with an opportunity to reflect on what we have done or failed to do and then dispose of them by resolving to make changes. It's time to be reborn, restored, renewed, and rejuvenated.

To say that I grew up in the woods is an exaggeration.  But in a sense, much of my growing up did take place in a small wooded area behind Schlarman High School in Danville, Illinois.  My friends and I played there, season in and season out, for most of my formative boyhood.  I learned about expanding imagination.  I learned about being invisible.  I learned that nature is sacred.

There was a sundial in the backyard of the old Tyson mansion in my woods. It stood on a pedestal in little nook overlooking Lake Vermilion and had the inscription that carried Robert Browning’s words.

Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made.

The poetry was confusing, haunting, and almost scary back then. My best friend and I would be chasing butterflies or heading back to work on our hidden fort and I would often stop to look at that old sundial. "Grow old along with me!” I would think; “Now that's stupid...who wants to get old anyway?"  Then I would run on.

Now that I am have officially achieved elderhood, the wisdom of the sundial makes more sense. The best is always coming. And each of us is someone new. The best of life, of love, and of all that God has to offer is at hand if we just open up to the possibilities. Then, we can squeeze every drop out of our moments and let them fall where they may. Some will evaporate and some will become rainbows.

Here are my five rejuvenating resolutions (offered for rainbow making);

1. Speak Kindly

2. Listen Carefully

3. Forgive Generously

4. Hug and Hold Hands

5. Celebrate, Laugh, and Dance

Happy 2020. May you be forever young as you grow old along with me.

The New Year; A Path to Reconciliation

"Ring out the old, ring in the new. Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true." ~ Alfred Lord Tennyson

A celebration of this New Year of 2019 gives us the unique opportunity to reflect.  We have experienced triumph and defeat, joy and sorrow, abundance and loss.  Our personal lives have been changed.  We are a bit older and more experienced.  Our reminiscences of the year should include both the good and the harm we might have done. This is a good time to sort it all out. It will give us a chance for reconciliation and new beginnings.

Sometimes we leave damage in our wake despite the best intentions. People have feelings that are hurt because we were somehow thoughtless or reckless.  We have done or failed to do things that have hurt relationships.  This creates a need for making amends. We must first admit our wrongdoings, apologize, and then proceed to set things right. By so doing, we make ourselves vulnerable and take down the walls that separate us. Finally, we pledge to refrain from repeating the damaging behavior in the future.

A Path to Reconciliation

The healing that springs forth from reconciliation is beyond our greatest expectations. We begin to live a life without regrets. Trust and harmony become the cornerstones of our relationships. We find ourselves as the benefactors and recipients of love and compassion. We build coalitions instead of seeking isolation. Diversity is no longer frightening. There is always a path to reconciliation.  Nothing is so important that it should stand in the way of this miraculous process. What a terrific way to turn the page to a new year. Let’s do it...and set the stage for a Happy New Year.

“Le present est gros de l'avenir.” (The present is big with the future) ~ French Proverb