2013 is ready to close. It’s been an interesting year in
many ways, but as I look back on the previous year, I find that I am grateful
for much that has transpired because I am a much better person now than I was
at this time a year ago.
I went back and reviewed my posting from last year, and I
was struck at how I wasn’t really enthusiastic as to what 2013 could bring. At
that time, I really wasn’t looking forward to the year, but in retrospect, I
find that I’m much more confident and grateful for what has happened to make me
the person that I am in today.
One of the things I did over the course of the last year
was kept a weekly journal. I made efforts to compose an entry at least once a
week (usually on Sundays) to keep up to date with things that were happening in
my life and some of the things I was dealing with. Here in the last week I took
some time to review the journal over the past year and I was struck by a number
of things.
To begin with, I can see my development as a person and my
growth, emotionally or otherwise, through my entries in the journal and it’s
great to see how much has happened over the course of one year. But taken as a
whole, I found it to be really repetitive. I found I would stress over the same
things again and again and the only way I would deal with them was to let them
pass through the course of time. Upon reading this though, I realized
something.
I have found that too often, we stress WAY too much. I’ve
noticed this among my friends, family and myself time and time again. We worry
about things or rather how we’re going to get things done to the point that we
can’t live in the moment and enjoy something. We’re too busy worrying about
what comes next that we can’t appreciate where we are.
Some of this is justified. If you’re going to graduate or
are worried about your job, health care, or whatever is a driving force in your
life, it’s going to cause you some stress. Tragic things that happen will
stress a person (such as death, or sickness) and it’s easy to get worked up.
We all need to learn how to live for the moment. Look, life
is much too short, and if we spend it worrying so much about what comes next,
we can’t appreciate what we have right in front of us. If you have a life with
friends, enjoy them and their company while you can. If you have major projects
and are juggling multiple ones, prioritize, categorize, and while you’re
working on them, seek out something about the work that satisfies you. Perhaps
it’s just the people you work with, or the work itself is enlightening. Whatever works,
try to live for the moment.
Over the course of this last year, I have achieved a
college degree. That is (understandably) satisfying, but at the same time, I
miss working and seeing many of the people who I met while there every day.
With them, and in working side by side with them, I found that I really enjoyed
their company, but only realize it now. I didn’t appreciate it then (perhaps I
couldn’t) but in any case I do miss that. It happens to all of us. We’re so caught up on our own
things that we can’t see what is happening before our eyes and it’s time to
change that.
As we move forward into a new year, we need to look back
and reflect, but also live for the moment. The time we have NOW is so
important, and special that we need to appreciate it while we still can. Stress
over the future can take over a person if they let it, so don’t let it.
I know it’s easier said than done, but try. I’m going to
make more efforts to live in the moment in the next year, and I encourage all
of you to do the same.
Happy New Year, wherever you happen to be. I hope it’s
filled with success and happiness, and let it begin today.
