Not only are we looking in to the face of a whole new year but actually in to ten whole new years, otherwise known as a decade!
And, whilst the term ’New Years’ Resolution’ appears to be currently out of favour, the importance of acknowledging this new time frame remains.
Part of doing so involves acknowledging the death or ending of the previous year and decade.
We may consider where we were ten years ago, where we imagined we would be at this point versus where we are now in reality.
There may be regrets as to what was not achieved or what turned out differently to how we hoped.
Whilst we cannot go back or re-write what has passed, we can acknowledge such regrets along with any subsequent sense of loss accompanying them.
We don’t have to leave it there though or to passively allow another year much less a decade to pass us by if we are not where we want to be.
Where we do have choices we must decide whether or not to activate them.
This week as I have reflected upon this, I have noticed a theme emerging around the influence of death or even the threat of death to a loved one.
When forced to stare in to the face of our own mortality by the presence or threat of death, it is common to find ourselves propelled out of any inertia.
Death may evoke a deeper experiential knowing that this life thing does not continue forever.
This willingness to engage with mortality, whether our own or others, can become the pinnacle for change and movement toward a deeper engagement with life.
But, it is not always the death or threat of death to a loved one that forces us to engage with life afresh. At times it can be the death or ending of life as previously known. For whilst us humans often accept the status quo irrespective of personal cost and loss of aliveness, death and life will often invite us to search for more.
I often hear people say that the worst experiences of their life that effectively killed off life as they formerly knew it, end up becoming the very events that mobilise them in to action to make the radical changes they long for.
Whilst the death, loss, ending, disappointments and regrets of the previous year or decade must be acknowledged, they need not deter us from engaging afresh with all that lay ahead.
The new decade invites us all to enter in to its embrace and opportunities, its highs and lows, good times and bad.
How will we respond?
Will we dare to make plans or take steps towards that which we really long for?
The new decade awaits …