Month: January 2014

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It’s Only A Number

“I don’t believe in aging. I believe in forever altering one’s aspect to the sun. ” 

 ~Virginia Woolf

I am reminded I have a milestone birthday coming up.  Cool.  Although I have to admit I don’t think of it as a milestone or as getting older – it is just another day following all those that preceded it. Some place a great deal of importance on birthdays, relish the celebration and all that goes along with it and I think that is wonderful.  Celebrate away and have the best day ever!  Occasionally I enjoy the fuss and attention, too.

Mostly I consider birthdays as a place marker, a unit of time, in a –hopefully- long journey.  It has little to do with who I am beyond announcing the number of years I have walked this earth. It doesn’t dictate the age of my friends. (Seriously, how limiting would life be if we could only associate with those close to us in age?) I will never allow it to prevent future me from dancing in the moonlight if I so choose – not that I do, mind you – but I could if I wanted to 🙂  I plan to always remain enthusiastic about each new adventure that comes my way.  When people get to know me I want them to see the person I am without the association of a pesky number attached.

What I prefer to celebrate is the kind of person I have evolved into over the span of days.  The friendships I have made, the laughter I have shared and the continued interest in all those fun, quirky things life abounds with.  I have 364 days of un-birthdays to experience and one to take stock of that wonderful gift of time.  Like Virginia Woolf,  I believe in forever altering one’s aspect to the sun. That is where the true celebration lies.

Of course, I may change my mind about the whole number thing when I eventually reach 100, but then again, I might not 🙂

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A Non-Resolution Resolution

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I had great plans to start the year out with a post about my non-resolutions resolution.  I blinked and missed the whole first week of January.  Seriously, time flew.  Here it is January 7th and I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact it is 2014!

I admit I am like the majority of people and usually throw out a couple of resolutions knowing full well I won’t make it past the first few weeks before I break them.  It is easy to laugh off a resolution to lose weight or exercise more.  They are the standard resolutions bandied about and dismissed after a few weeks, right?  Why is that?

A resolution by its very definition can be hard work.  Getting in shape after being an absolute slug for the previous twelve months requires commitment – not to mention sore muscles that make walking agony.  Somewhere along the line it becomes too hard to find time in a busy schedule to go to gym.  Old habits rear their ugly heads and after a long day the couch holds more appeal than sweating through an exercise class. I guess I want instant gratification and grow impatient.  Ouch.

I did something a little different this time. I looked at the shiny expanse of a new year filled with endless possibilities and then turned back to review the year that just ended.  I discovered something amazing.  My year had been filled with incredible events and excitement!  Sadly, I missed the significance of much of it at the time because I was too focused on where I thought I was failing.  It took looking back at the year as a whole to put everything in perspective and finally recognize my achievements.

I knew I didn’t want to set myself up for failure and inadvertently dull the shimmering promise stretched before me with this year.  I didn’t want to feel discouraged before the year even got a good start.  I sure as heck didn’t want to miss those incredible moments I had overlooked in 2013 because I was too focused on all that still needed to be done.

Thus, my non-resolution resolution came into being.  Instead of resolutions I will probably break I am tasking myself with living in the moment, to savor all the successes – big or small – that happen over the next twelve months.  I plan to be kinder to myself and think in terms of doable changes to improve my health and well-being, not go at it hard and heavy right out of the gate and burn myself out with discouragement.  I will nurture my friendships and the people I love. I give myself permission to laugh myself silly on occasion and enjoy the ridiculous. I won’t be as hesitant to explore new things or take the road less traveled. Side roads can prove more interesting than the direct path and still get me where I am going in the end.

I want to see the end of 2014 as the year I enjoyed to its fullest.  No regrets.

I hope each of you follow your dreams in 2014 and enjoy every success.  I plan to   🙂