525,600 Minutes

As 2018 winds herself down, I sit.  

I sit.

I ponder.  

How do I even begin to assess this passing year?  

How can I look back, clear-eyed enough to notice?

How can I honor the journey of 2018, the shadows and the sunlight?  

How do I do that without judging myself, others, or my Main Dancing Partner, Ms. Life Herself?

The task this morning feels herculean and somewhat pointless.  Yet I believe in the power of self-examination, which, along with meditation and prayer, together form the foundation of my practices of intended balance in the midst of Every Single Thing.

Clearly, today I don’t have answers.  Yet I do remember the practice of gratitude which exists somewhere deep inside my dusty tool bag.  Gratitude reminds me of an amazing prayer I heard at a Twelve Step meeting, which seems appropriate for the mindful ending of this year:

I will do some simple journaling around each of these facets, with the powerful brain-changer, gratitude, as the filter, to help me scan the past year. And if gratitude isn’t accessible, maybe awareness or simple acknowledgment of the headlines of the past year would be enough to track, to trace, to honor the journey of our 2018 trek through life.

We are so worth honoring!  Dear friends, we are.

And looking ahead……..

How do I, how do we attend to 2019, hovering in the shadows, streaming forward in the sunshine of those Berkshire woods, pictured above?  

How do we lean toward the direction we choose, as we welcome the next 525,600 minutes into our lives?

Perhaps we consider writing intentions for the new year?  For me, these need to be broad and delicious riverbanks into which I can spaciously swim.  

Hum.

Okay.

Here are mine, for these upcoming minutes of 2019:

• To walk slowly into each moment, as best I can, with an open heart
• To welcome what I’m given, as best I can, with a connection to faith
• To allow myself to be touched, as best I can, by the grace around me
• To participate fully in my life, as best I can, even and especially in those moments I do not like
• To allow myself to be exactly where I am

To simply be more mindful, by considering the passing of the year and the arrival of the new one—that alone feels significant and mindful and healing enough for me this morning, as the sun shines, as the shadows play on the huge white pines outside my house.

And best of all, here is my New Year’s gift to you—

With ultimate celebration, no matter what occurred, of the 525,600 minutes of 2018 behind us all now—as well as with ultimate welcoming of those upcoming minutes of 2019, check out this wonderful song, Seasons of Love, from Rent: