New Year, New YOU--!

Quote: 'Don't mistake failing with "I am a failure," as no one is successful all the time.’

I had a different topic in mind for this special day, but when the above turned up first thing this morning I realized the day is choosing its own topic!

You can research any number of articles on ’finding yourself.’ Self-analysis - Socrates said 'The unexamined life is not worth living' - is a part of that. The trouble is not to get caught up in limiting definitions: 'I am a parent' or 'I am a teacher' are all well and good, but they define only a part of who you are. You are not only a parent, you are Mary, and you also have a vegetable garden, and you walk 30 minutes a day, and you always have a book with you. You are not just a teacher, you are Tom, and you also play the piano, and you volunteer at your church, and you meet your brother for dinner once a week.

These facts - our likes and dislikes, our stations in life, our friends and families, our jobs - are not the sum total of who we are. They are facets of who we are. As with the facets of a gem, perhaps some people only see one or two sides, while others see an array of surfaces and reflections. Moreover, just like a jewel, beyond the surface reflections the depths are a myriad of colors, twinkling and sparkling, always bright at the heart.

I think it's even more important not to define ourselves in terms of successes and failures. If you have not achieved a goal, regardless of how long you've been working at it, you may need to reconsider how you're going about it. Perhaps you need to change the method you're using, or you may want to refine the goal itself, now that you've had the opportunity to see what has kept you from reaching it. But failing to reach that goal does not mean you are a failure. It simply means you need to keep working at it, try something different, find a new path.

Remember, we can’t know the future, but surely we must give ourselves credit. ‘I haven’t run a marathon, yet’ has all the implication of ‘…but I believe I will.’ For myself, ‘I haven’t achieved a healthy lifestyle, yet’ - but I BELIEVE I will!

Happy New Year, to each and everyone of you. Here’s to new beginnings and fresh starts! :-)