New Years is a non event for me. Like so many things, it’s a human invention based on a flawed premise. The calendar that runs our lives ultimately is the source of so much stress and the reason many find it impossible to be in this moment... forever looking forward to some promise of better things to come. So here on this day 10 sunrises before the first moon of the time of the returning sun I offer up these thoughts.
Our calendar really doesn’t work, requires the addition of days occasionally but has become this necessary evil. I don’t think necessary evils merit any celebration. The concepts of “out with the old and in with the new” and resolutions are ultimately counterproductive to any kind of mindfulness practice. The research on the success of New Year’s Resolutions and the actual damage they end up doing to self esteem is unequivocal. Why would this day truly offer a better starting point for any personal change as you look at the incomprehensible nature and enormity of another calendar year? Please allow me to humbly offer up this alternative. Forget the whole concept of wishing yourself and anyone else a “Happy New Year”. Try to embrace the idea of each day being a “Happy New Day”... because it is. Each day we open our eyes we are presented with choices and possibilities that are indeed new. At the onset of each of these Happy New Days set yourself one or two intentions... just some things that you think may contribute to your true happiness. These intentions could be to express more appreciations, eat a mindful meal, follow your breath 3 times throughout the day, go for a walk or to be an attentive listener. The possibilities are myriad and will be different for each of us. You can revisit these intentions throughout your day and perhaps at the end of the day you can evaluate how you made out in a gentle, non-judgemental way that celebrates your progress and looks at what obstacles may have impeded you. Then you can go to sleep knowing that tomorrow is yet again a “Happy New Day”.
So today, forget about all the intolerable year in review crap and lists that artificially try to package our experience... throw out the idea of dramatic, life altering resolutions that will just stress you out and try setting a couple intentions for the day. Most importantly, don’t bother with those Happy New Year wishes that will soon fade. Instead, wish yourself and those around you each and every day something far more meaningful and true...
Happy New Day!