And then it was January...

Have you ever awakened and wondered what day it was? Or maybe you were scheduling a meeting and realized that it was already almost next month! Life seems to pass so quickly at times. I look forward to exciting events and it seems like they will never arrive but, then I pause and look back, I find that I am much further along than I want to admit! That’s a bit of what I’m experiencing right now. Here it is, 2023, January, and already the 12th!

Google reports that the average length a person maintains a New Year’s Resolution is 36 days. That seems long enough for it to become a habit based on the understanding that habit-forming is a 21-day process. It seems there is a disconnect between the two timeframes as stopping a resolution after 36 days would not be so easy if it was a habit by then. Oh well, just some of my musings this January.

So, what does it take to experience real and lasting change? What will it take to get me to take at least 7500 steps every day?! I think that mysterious question haunts most of us in some area of our lives. How do we identify what needs to be changed, and then how do we make the lasting change happen?

If only I had that answer! (I know you all were expecting it!) I don’t. I do know that life is a journey. We do have the opportunity to make choices that will move us along the path or take us down rabbit trails, and sometimes send us backwards from where we wanted to go. I believe that life is not about perfection, but about direction. As we make those New Year’s Resolutions, as we deliberately lean toward advancement, we can expect some challenges, but we can also rejoice in the forward motion however slight it may be at time.

This New Year, make time for your own regular time of contemplation. Write things down (I don’t call it journaling because I’m not good at that!). The renewal of our minds and bodies depends on our providing them with proper maintenance.

Here’s to each of you this New Year!

December Musings

“How can it be December already?” I don’t know how many people I’ve heard say this! It is remarkable how quickly time passes when we are going about our business of daily living. Suddenly, the next big date is here, and we realize all the things we didn’t get done that we had planned to do before now! Maybe I shouldn’t attribute this to all of us, but I bet more of you can relate than cannot!

As I think about the Christmas Story, I wonder if Mary experienced anything like this. I can only imagine that she and Joseph had plans. Even in their day, in that culture, there must have been dreams and feelings like what we know today. Wedding, home, children, all the excitement that comes with engagement! (Luke 1-2).

The big difference is that Mary’s time was cut short. It didn’t sneak up on her like it does to us. An angel visited and she and Joseph’s life was changed forever. Even the trip to Bethlehem seemed last minute as they arrived to find no room available in which they could stay. Today we would say “What poor planning! How did they not get on Google and find a place before they left town?!”

And here we are, six days before Christmas. Whether Christmas is celebrated or not, there is a real presence of the season around us. The stores push aside the common, everyday merchandise to make room for trees and sleighs and decorations from which we can select by theme or color or smell. It impacts all our senses as well as our cents. And, if we aren’t careful, we end up pushing aside the important for the sensory, spending too much time, money, and energy on decorations and gifts, and not enough on those we are doing this all for, including ourselves.

According to www.numerology.com, the number six is a symbol of completeness. Maybe you remember Math classes teaching about Perfect Numbers. Six is recognized as the first perfect number by the Pythagoreans, a Perfect Number being when all the number’s divisors (except itself) add up to equal that number. (I had to look it up!) Hence, 1+2+3=6 is the first Perfect Number. And in the Bible, man was created on the sixth day. It was a good day according to God Himself! (Genesis 1:24-31).

So, we have six days. Let’s make the most of them by reversing the trend. Let’s push aside the busy-ness of the season and focus on the important, our family, our friends, ourselves. Most of what is left to do can be set aside and not missed. Do what is absolutely necessary, but remember, it is absolutely necessary to stop, to breathe, to muse, to love those with you, and to enjoy not just the presents from each other, but the presence of each other! The days are too short to miss the experience of each one.

May this next six days, and the rest of this year, bring a sense of peace and joy to you and yours. And may the New Year be filled with its continued presence.

Practicing presence,

Bev