I don’t know about you, but I’m the kind of person who, like millions of other humans, sits down with great intentions on making life-changing New Year’s Resolutions…you know…all the things we want to do and be over the next year with heaps of ambition but no set plan…ya…one of those. So, as not to break tradition, here I am in the last few days of December hoping to feel inspired, energized, and hopefully insightful, as I set out to make my impossible list!
I was at the gym earlier today (more on that another day…you know…swim caps and flutter boards…oh my!) trying to work off all the Christmas goodies I’ve been nibbling on and was struck by a phrase in the podcast I was listening to. Now, before I go any further, you should know this may not be quite as profound as I think it is. There’s a good chance my elevated heart rate, the sweat in my eyes and whirr of the treadmill, may very well have clouded my vision and distorted my perspective LOL. But in any case, I do think I’ve found my “mantra” for 2024. Wanna hear it? OK…here it is…
“Find Me a Straight River”
This phrase is actually the title of an audiobook by the same dude who was doing the podcast. He didn’t get too much into the content of his book, as the podcast was about something totally different, but he did disclose a few thoughts from it and it’s these thoughts that have led me to my “big plans” for 2024.
In his book, the author encourages his listeners to look to nature for inspiration and acceptance. For example, he challenges his listeners to consider the notion that there are no straight lines in nature; even what seems a perfectly flat horizon is a slightly curved line following the contour of the earth. He also points out that nature takes the path it needs to (or must take) as seen, for example, in a river. A flowing river will change its course, redefine riverbanks, bubble and churn over jagged rocks, even swell and flood…and just keeps on going…wherever it must…
Now his next comment really caught me off guard…as someone who loves nature, it’s something I’d never really considered. If you look closely, nature is full of failures. Failures? Yup, failures. For instance, a tree will drop hundreds, if not thousands of seeds and yet only one or two new trees will grow. Those are some pretty bad odds eh!?
And lastly, consider this…nature grows and changes to its own set rhythms; as seen in the variety of seasons, fluctuations of tides, the life cycle of a plant and so on.
I want this. I want to know more deeply that there is no perfect, straight-forward plan that will take me from point A to point B. I want to accept that it’s ok to meander, allow my life to ebb and flow as it needs to or as it will/must. I want to step out more, challenge myself to try new things, be willing to strive for things a bit out of my reach…all the time knowing full well only a few of the “seeds I drop” will grow and mature…value failure as part of the process.
I have a rhythm, a way of being that is truly me…I want to know it and trust it more and more. I want to purposely recognize my own beauty, all the asymmetrical lines and irregularities that make me the beautiful masterpiece I am (good luck right!!?).
So ya. That’s my New Year’s resolution…you know…besides all the “usual” things like eating healthy, exercising, reading more blah, blah, blah. LOL Cheers to a New Year of learning to love our irregularities and all the things that make us uniquely…well…us!! A year full of learning and growing…tripping and falling…and finding the strength to pull ourselves up and keep on keeping on. And may that strength come from knowing we ALL have value and purpose and from the beautiful community of people we surround ourselves with.
Carrie
person with rheumatoid arthritis