Happy New Year!
Here we find ourselves at the start of a new year, facing perfunctory annual reviews, crowded gyms and the promise of more kale. New Years is like a birthday that everyone shares so no one gets a present. You don’t necessarily feel different than you did the day before, but you have to remember a new number when you are filling out forms.
The milestone of a new year or a new decade has just as much significance as we choose to give it. While I’m not remarkably consistent with my level of ceremony each year, I do annually reject the notion of a resolution. Because of the date I am suddenly capable of being different? One just resolves to be a better version of themselves and that’s all it takes to make it happen? Unconvinced.
When it comes to making changes, I don’t trust the dramatic swing. Yes, it can be satisfying to make a huge and immediate change, but when it is momentum that pushes you in that direction, what do you do when that same momentum starts to pull you back? And when you get to a new place by swinging there, your new position is based not on where you intended to be, but on the place where you started.
I try to approach change not as a swinging pendulum, but as building blocks. Building takes longer than swinging, but it creates a firm foundation with no threat of a backswing. It sets your future free from your past and gives depth to your understanding and actions. Yeah, you may stumble, but you can climb back on those blocks that you built and give it another go when you are ready.
So rather than resolve ourselves into 2020, let’s start building the year and the decade together. Through this blog series we will:
Close out 2019 by remembering, processing and telling the story of that year
Line up our priorities to build a 2020 that serves as a foundation for years to come
Plan for action in our personal, professional and community lives
Or you could decide that a new year isn’t that significant to you and set a different milestone to move past, like a relationship, a job, or a particularly frustrating pattern of actions. It’s whatever feels right to you.
Get your pen, paper, thinking cap and Champagne flute ready to celebrate a truly great year in the making!
Austinites: Modo Yoga will have an Off the Mat: Build your 2020 six-week series where we work through a lot of these questions AND work your abs/quads/shoulders/booties. Classes will be Tuesday nights January 14 through February 18. Look for more information and links soon!