Lookin' Forward

The new year is upon us and it seems everyone I talk to has grand expectations for this annual change. It’s incredible to hear them discuss how horrible the past years have been. While my natural pessimism has me tending to agree, I also see many good things that occurred from 2000-2009. I could diatribe regarding those years, but I’ll refrain, simply outlining the year we’ve just completed.

For me, 2009 was a tribute to patience - a season of cultivated anticipation. A year of sitting crossed-legged in life’s waiting room, looking toward something, but not yet equipped enough to walk in its direction.

As my gaze shifts to the new year, the new decade, I am full of hope. I have begun to reassess the facts, and, taking Berry’s advice, choosing joy despite them. I sense change is on its way, and that my direction will finally be forward motion.

And so my hope for this new year is that all-consuming desire of open-handed contentment, to live cognizant of the fact that I am not entitled to any of the gifts I have been given. I am unimaginably blessed to exist - no, thrive - in one of my favorite places. I’m also a part of an incomparable community, and the growth that occurs by engaging close friends is immeasurable.

These are some of the reminders I need to give myself from time to time when I’m straying from gratitude. When I feel inclined to complain. When I feel overwrought with expectations that have once again fallen short.

So I’m looking forward to looking back, well aware that this year will bring a smattering of good, terrible, joyous, and frustrating experiences and emotions. Yet, this is the course of every year we live out. Gracefully, we’ve been given one more.