This Year, I Am Where I Need To Be

Dec

Featured Letters | common ground, finish line, need, new year, resolutions, want

“In so much as a white meadow draws your attention, it also points to common ground – the energy we all share, asking us to stand our ground, stand within and expect nothing more than what we are given.”

As you enter 2011, look to the simple nature of the quote above. Relate and speak to it with generosity. Here the vestiges of 2010 lean forward to greet you, so to does that white meadow.

The new year serves to remind us of two things: Firstly, we are where we need to be, not where we think we should be or where we want to be. Secondly, why waste time wondering what the year will bring, entrust and honor your path as it takes shape, stand within its midst. New Year’s resolutions are fine for some people, though self defeating for most. Why start something new when you haven’t realized the tasks on last year’s agenda? Look around, father those efforts, continue the harvest.

Do you really need to set up yet another goal?

Why not stand in that white field for a moment, breath in what you have done, what you started off to do and what you faithfully accomplished. Have you worked through hardship, drama, trauma or fiduciary circumstance? Is there still work to be done on outlying areas of your daily life? Of course there is, there always will be.

Life is not a race towards a finish line. If 2010 became so it was done by following others who moved at dizzying speeds, in twenty directions that barely bide time to construe a single path. New years should never take advice from others before turning within. Nor should it delay duty or responsibility to the day in front of you. If you see someone waving a flag saying “Gentleman, start your engines” – economic or otherwise, turn inwards. Let the new year greet you like any other day, knocking on your door like an old friend who asks you to sit down and talk. Inside that moment detail and explain what needs work, who can help, what was left behind and what needs to go.

Every day serves a friendly reminder, a wake up call.

For better or worse, the new year is the one rare occasion where people examine their behaviours and actions. A new year is more than a template for success. As a signpost, it wonders what stops us from hashing life out on a regular basis with a sturdy question or two: What barriers do you still need to remove, what energy do you carry home that isn’t worth a tinkers damn? Resolutions on the other hand draw open the window dressing of circumstance, and nothing much deeper.

Sometimes the New Year asks us to let go.

Moving forward often means mending a bridge and simplifying. Needs and wants have become as ubiquitous and interchangeable as a spare tire. How do you discern a want from a need? If others seem to have what you need, are you substituting or simplifying? Step into that white meadow again. Do not mix scheming with achieving. “Others” will always seek to mirror what they want for themselves and dress it up as something you need. It builds their cause, giving a credible mystique to a parable that claims any want can quickly become a need if enough people buy into it.

If you need more this year, ask yourself why. If you answer “ it will give me a greater sense of pleasure, or “I’ll feel more comfortable” then your wants have parlayed themselves into a need. Realize not every need fills a practical solution. If you answer WHY with “I need to love, to loosen up, to live without fear, to enjoy others company, to uplift – then perhaps your needs have more apparent value.

Conviction asks for courage, people ask for bench marks.

A recent survey suggests over 88% of new year’s resolutions fail. Does this mean starting off on the right foot is a mistake? It means we need to question why and how we make resolutions. If we fail to resolve something, do we embody and value a heartfelt need to change a behaviour? Many unintentional wants (diets vs. lifestyle change) serve to window dress a more tailored look, the voice of an overly trained eye that lacks conviction. When a real need arises conviction sits down to map out our heart’s desire.

When true needs surface, they wind a path of preparation.

They take time and effort to fold into your day. Let the process happen without cajoling yourself into believing needs should arrive any sooner. Right where you live and work, start uttering transparent words that spell out a single need into reality. Speak it into existence among friends, share it without question. Act as if your life depends upon stepping out in faith or trust, knowing a single need may take longer than a year to achieve. Return and wait in that quiet meadow every whips while. When that need finally surfaces acknowledge its arrival. Let it move, wind and continue to build upon it.

Like every other day, I will listen to those transparent words . . . “I am where I need to be, not where others are or surely want me to be.”