“Today is the first day of the rest of your life.”

 

 

Can you hear me?

Can you hear me yawning? That expression is SO last year.

I’m going bigger this year and I plan on giving myself a little more room while I’m at it.

So how about this instead?

“Today is the first week of the rest of your life.”  

Crazy right?

Look.

It has been said that how we spend the first day of the new year is how our year will unfold. Now. We all know that this is mostly a bunch of hooey dressed up like some sparkly affirmation, but hey, let’s take our sparkles wherever we can get them (and, if you’ve been a regular reader of this blog, you are quite familiar with my propensity toward hooeyness).
 

 

But, back to the expanded bumper-sticker of a saying. To try to fit in all things you want to have happen in a year, by stuffing them into one day, well, clearly that is an impossibility.

Or at least it is for me.

Instead, I’ve decided to do a week’s worth of great stuff so that I can set the tone for the year. I have until midnight on the 8th. During this full week, I’m going to do a little bit of everything that I hope will repeat itself during the rest of the year.

Contrary to what one might expect, there are no big shiny super-duper happenings scheduled for this week. In fact, almost everything I have decided to do are things I’ve already been doing with a few extra bits thrown in to enhance the mix. What I really want to do is pay very close attention to what I’m choosing each day.

A friend posted on Facebook that for decades she hasn’t been doing resolutions. Instead, she writes a list of things she’d like to make time for every day/week or month, and then tries to incorporate these things. It sounds much more expansive and not quite so puritanical as the usual to-do list of resolutions.

I love her idea of dreaming up some new and wonderful thing to add into the day.

So, in the spirit of incorporating groovy new bits into my life, I submit the following declaration:

Physical Health:

I want more vegetables in my life. To that end I plan on pulling out my Oh She Glows cookbook and will be adding more plant-based meals into my days. This will also be an act of cooking creativity and kitchen-play time always gives me a lovely feeling of cookery accomplishment.

Walk. Hike. Snowshoe. Ski. Walk. Hike. Snowshoe. Ski. Go to the gym. Walk. Hike. Snowshoe. Ski.

Watch more funny movies. Laugh more.

Get a facial. Seriously, when was the last time I did that?? Book another massage. What about that reflexologist? That’d be kind of cool.  Ride a horse. I think that will happen this summer in Kimberley.  Ride a bike. Ditto on this summer. Swim. Jump in a lake. Paddle a canoe or kayak.

Mental & Spiritual Health:

I will continue to honour my daily 30-minutes of meditation. I don’t always pull it off but it happens way more often than not. Meditation makes me happier. Meditation calms me down. Meditation reduces my anxiety. Meditation improves my immune function. This gives me the mental and psychic space to help me do what the Swami counselled us in the ashram so many years ago, Step Back and Slow Down.

Draw. Sing. Make more altered books. Create more mixed-media pieces. Learn to make different kinds of jewelry. Practise Spanish. Help others. Smile. Practise daily gratitude. Hug more.

Will I manage to get all this stuff incorporated into this week? Probably not all of it, but enough new things to keep it fresh.  But here’s the biggest thing I’m adding into my shiny new year…wiggle room. Some might call it grace. Some might call it space. Some might even call it forgiveness. Whatever it is, it means I’m cutting myself a whole lot more slack to just hang out and be.
 

 

I have found, especially over these last few months, that I am increasingly interested in being alone. I like making art, reading, writing, walking and thinking. These are mostly solitary acts. I have nothing to prove, no goal to accomplish, just the lovely realization that living my life is enough. There is no best life. There is just the act of choosing to be engaged in whatever it is I’m doing.

It seems that with all these tendencies, that I am becoming more of an introvert. I know. I know. But it’s true. I guess I’m an extroverted introvert.

All in all, this is going to be a rather large year. There will be a six-week trip to Mexico starting in February and we will be moving to Kimberley in the middle of the year.  I believe that move will trigger all sorts of changes that I can’t possibly even guess at right now.

But then isn’t that what life is all about?

The only truly constant thing in any of our lives is change. How crazy-wonderful is that?

Once we embrace that there’s nothing we can fix in place, then life becomes more of a river to ride.

So let’s get on our lifejackets, grab some paddles, throw some new moments into the canoe and get going.

The water’s fine.

May your newest of years be splendid and as large as you want it to be. Thank you for accompanying me on the journey.