Tuesday, January 1, 2019

Brand New Year


Breaking Ground

There's something about taking a plow and breaking new ground. It gives you energy.”
Ken Kesey

January 1, 2019. Hard to believe we have come two decades into the 21st century, isn't it? I have vivid memories of cleaning out my mother's Y2K storage cabinets in 2008, and now we've traveled yet another decade. Where does the time go?

Yet here we are, breaking new ground. Every year, I promise myself that I will do all the things I have been putting off, and every year I fail miserably. Breaking new ground requires walking away from old ground without looking back and most of us have trouble doing that—at least, I do. I try to steer clear of New Year's resolutions since that is the kiss-of-death for most of them, but this year, I am going to do this—I'm going to do what my dad always advised: “Buck-up, girl, and get it done.” There's a long list of “put-offs” in my need-to-do file. I need to find a means of selling my art; I need to pull together the chapters for a book I've been writing for the past decade; I need to make the final decision about whether to stay or go from my house. All these will require that I break new ground.

So, what about you? On this first day of a new year, will you make resolutions? Will you break new ground in your own life? A friend of mine, having dreamed her whole life of living at the ocean's edge, is looking at condos and tiny houses at Gulf Shores. Now in her mid-sixties, she's asking herself, “If not now, when?” Two more couples who are friends of mine are putting their beloved lake houses on the market. They have gathered friends and family there for years, but now up-keep is burdensome, so it's time to break new ground. Change is always hard and scary. We second guess ourselves, and if you're anything like me, dither around for far too long. Time to “buck-up” and get it done. And when we do, energy will flow down like a river. Plowing new ground produces new life.

May 2019 be your best year ever, and may all your to-dos get done. Happy New Year, everyone.

                                                           In the Spirit,
                                                              Jane

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