EACH DAY IS A GIFT! Happy New Year!

Time calculated in years is both superficial and real.  It is real because birthday clock begins again and our bodies sync with it, for the most part. It is real because it marks the end of a tax year with the new April 15 in sight.  Year-end and watch night ceremonies and celebrations can lull us into thinking that 12:01 am December 31 is magical, miraculous, or even our lucky day.  We watch the clock as if God himself fixed and sanctified it as special.  Indeed, New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day can be as eventful, special, holy, magical, and miraculous as any other day.  For some, it is like Valentine’s Day, another day that intensifies their aloneness and inability to run into or find that right woman or man throughout the rest of the year.  And the media, as with other holidays, brings into relief or bolsters the idea of Jan 1 as the newest of all.  Each day we open our eyes, step out of our beds, catch sight of a streaming golden light parading into our bedrooms or the pitter patter sounds of Mother’s Nature’s dripping faucet in the sky, see the rise and fall of our chests signaling that our breath never left our bodies, it is a new miraculous day ripe for beautiful and wondrous encounters. We can help make things happen any day of the year. We are God’s elves in this workshop called earth! If we wait until January 1, 2012 to resolve to live our best life, we just might miss out on the opportunity of our lifetime.  Yet, I believe it is never too late to begin again. But if we think we must wait until January 1, we likely will be disappointed when we find that just like December 1 resolutions, January 1 resolutions demand faith, hard work, and stepping out of our comfort zones.  Therefore, today I remind myself of and renew these resolutions:

            WHEREAS, I am created in the image of God, and

            WHEREAS, God’s Spirit moves upon, resides in, and anoints me with wisdom and power, and

            WHEREAS, I pray for and am grateful for God’s daily strength, faithfulness, faith in me,

            I, THEREFORE, RESOLVE to

            BELIEVE in myself even when others cannot and do not.

            CULTIVATE the bundled seed that God nourished in my mother’s womb in order to become the talented, gifted, successful, giving, compassionate, innovative, wise woman God envisioned me to be.

            KNOW that this cultivation is the work of a lifetime, I pledge each day to ACT in ways that will realize the vision, including hard work, community involvement, heartily laughing and playing, educating my mind and spirit, exercising my limbs and mind, resting my body, mind and soul, reflecting in quiet space, and gifting back to the land and humanity.

            HOPE in and VISUALIZE a present and future in which God grants me the desires of my heart, filling my mind with hope-filled thoughts, clothing my body in a way that demonstrates expectation but not recklessness, walking paths that place me at God’s disposal.

            GIFT the body temple God loaned me with daily exercise, fresh air, clean foods, ample rest, plenty of water, and dancing.

            WRITE books and essays that are liberating, informative, and that reflect God’s hand upon my soul and mind.

            CREATE opportunities and space to use my gifts instead of waiting for other people and institutions to acknowledge and appreciate them.

            BECOMING a more conscientious, passionate, and compassionate teacher.

            EMBRACE and STRIVE to be a kind, loving, forgiving, flexible, friend, sister, aunt, and colleague (and possibly a foster or adoptive parent).

            GUARD my boundaries and accept the boundaries others’ deserve and need.

            POUR life and commitment into my dreams and encourage others to dream.

            GO TO THE OCEAN, SEA, or BEACH  as often as I can.

            BE OPEN to change;

AND ACKNOWLEDGE in speech and practice that each day is a gift.