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Looking Back, Looking Ahead

Over the past few days, with the new year approaching, I found myself thinking back over experiences of the past year and looking ahead at what the new year might bring. There were many challenges last year and, thankfully, we got through them. There were also many highlights that we appreciated and enjoyed.

I thought about how life flows on a spectrum between highs and lows that stand out as most memorable with everything else in between seeming uneventful and relatively comfortable. It seems the highs and lows show us what matters. We experienced sadness and feelings of grief and loss as we said goodbye to friends and family who are no longer with us. And yet life was also very sweet with having opportunities to appreciate and enjoy time with friends and family who live at a distance. There were health issues, yet they were overcome. There was strife and turmoil as well as love and peace.

On a more global level, there is much that has not gone well in our world this past year and it can bring us down in despair or give us cause to live in hope that things will improve. I think about how it is not easy to live in the extremes going on in the world and so I try to find ways of making the world a better place to be by affecting my personal little sphere of influence in a positive way. And, at that, I’m sometimes not very successful yet I will continue to try.

So those are some of the rambling thoughts that went through my mind this morning before I turned my thoughts toward what the new year might hold. Over the first cup of coffee on this first morning of 2016, I thought about how to proceed into this new year. I don’t want to make any resolutions this year; I only hope to be able to go with the flow of life more easily than I sometimes have in the past. So I sat down and wrote this poem this morning – for myself and my loved ones.

Happy New Year to you!

 

Wake Gently

Wake gently to the new year
and let the old one go
just take the highs and lows it gave
and let them help you grow.

Don’t worry for the future
or fret about what’s gone
just be present in the moment
and let the new day dawn.

Arise with good intentions
and hope within your heart
just move with grace into the day
and let the new year start.

Go easy through the first day
of this bright brand new year
so full of hope and promises
and let it bring you cheer.

Be open to each moment
whatever it may hold
just take the joy that comes your way
and let the year unfold.

Wake gently to the new year
and know that life will flow
just take the highs and lows it brings
and let them help you grow.

Terri Skuce
© January 1, 2016

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