A Year in the Life of You
I came back from Tuvalu and my gym was packed with dozens of people I had never seen before—an influx of New Year’s Resolutions.
“How many of them will still be here in February?” I wondered.
Whether you’re pro- or anti-resolution, there’s nothing inherently special about a new calendar year. If you don’t like the western calendar, there are plenty of others.
Want another chance to start over? Chinese New year is still four weeks away. Lunar calendars have their own cycle. So do the Mayans, although their reliability has lessened as of late.
Nevertheless, a new year is a new year. Might as well take advantage of it, right?
Every year we are each gifted with a finite period of time which we can never recover. The song from Rent helps keep it in your head: 525,600 minutes.
That’s it. Once these minutes are gone, there’s no reclaiming them.
The initial challenge is to fill these minutes with as many good things as possible. Have fun! Avoid busywork! Pursue meaningful relationships and work you enjoy.
If you can meet this challenge, you’ll live well and be happy, which is probably a lot more than you can say about many people. You’re on the right track.
The deeper challenge is to connect many of these minutes with an overall life purpose. What’s the meaning of life? Why are you really here?
If you can meet the deeper challenge, you’ll live well, be happy, and also change the world—most likely making yourself happier as well.
How do you do that? The journey begins first by looking within, and then by making active decisions. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking ahead, and I know many of you have been doing the same.
If you haven’t done the thinking yet, better late than never. Take some time and reflect on what you’d like to achieve and who you’d like to become this year.
If you’ve done the thinking, great. Now it’s time to implement.
Ready?
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*Something else from Rose Wintergreen: “It’s a big thing to be inventing your own way of life.”
Image: Knterox
