2016. A new year. A new start. A new me. A new you. A new us. A time of renewal. Shed the old, bring on the new. The better. The improved. A blank canvas. Just waiting to be painted upon.
We seem to think the first day of the new year is the beginning. The starting point for change. But really, every single morning, when you wake and your feet first hit the floor, you have the opportunity to change. Whether you are looking for a significant change in your life, maybe to quit smoking, or lose weight, or exercise more, any day is a good day to start. But the promise of a new year, day one, is extremely enticing. If you have put off attempting your change up until that time, then that day one is your time.
Then comes day two, and we begin the struggle within ourselves. At least, that’s how its been for me, just about every year. Oh, maybe I’ve actually made it past day two, maybe even a week or so, but soon the allure of the new year fades, and life resumes its normal cadence. The promise of a new, colorful, vibrant painting fades to gray, the barely started canvas put back in storage for another year. For me, I know I need to shift my perspective from the new year – a once a year opportunity to effect change – to a new day, where I have 365 new days where I can work on effecting change within myself. I struggle a bit with middle-age weight gain, going on more than a decade now I must admit. I struggle to eat healthier, when eating unhealthy tastes so much better. I struggle with a lack of motivation for exercising, because sitting on the couch feels so much more pleasant, and is the path of least resistance (and honestly, my couch is so darn comfortable!). I struggle, most importantly, with my dark side. That’s the side that allows – even encourages – me to binge eat, that attracts me to sweet and unhealthy foods, that keeps me on the couch, that clutters my mind with anxieties and fears and frustrations and anger. The allure of January 1st, that very first day of a brand new year, calls to me in a way which other days do not, although birthdays occasionally come close.
So, as I write these words, on New Year’s Eve, the final day of 2015, I look forward to the first day of 2016, with excitement and anticipation. Today I am allowing myself the freedom to eat what I want, vegetate on the couch, and succumb to my dark side. But tomorrow? That’s when the real freedom begins. And then? Day two? Day three? Everyday thereafter? That’s where the real struggle begins, and where I have the opportunity, even the obligation, to be true to myself and do what’s right, for me, my physical health, my mental health, my soul, if you will. That’s where the rubber meets the road or, in keeping with the theme, the paintbrush meets the canvas. Not the first day of the year, but each and every day thereafter. That’s my blank canvas. I don’t have a list of “must do” or “must not do” resolutions. No, not this year. That hasn’t worked for me in the past, so no reason to suspect it will this time around. But I do have an idea of what I want to create, and I know that creating the change I wish to see will take more than one day. I may even take a lifetime. My blank canvas will evolve into exactly what I wish it to be, one gentle brush stroke at a time. Each morning then, my intention is to simply begin the day with the objective of being just a little bit better than the day before, choosing from a palette of many color-coded choices, picking the one that best leads me toward the end result I hope to one day see on my canvas.
Happy New Year!
~ jwb ~