New Year, New Choices

I was taking a fun canoe trip with a group of teens.  The lazy river made it easy to paddle and look at the scenery as we passed along. Then we came around a gentle curve in the water to notice that a tree was on its side and blocking half of the river, our half.  This necessitated some instant action as the river didn’t stop for us to make an adjustment. Paddling furiously trying to make the transition to a point around the large limb was making minimal progress and soon it was evident we would be going directly beneath it. 

As we approached my survival instincts kicked in and upon our approach I reached up and gripped the limb.  I hoped that I would be able to move us around to the end and then scoot us back into main stream.  What became
evident is that, we are not skating on top of the water we are in the water and
feeling the weight of thousands of gallons of water pushing us along.  There was no way I could physically hold our position and in seconds I lost my grip and we went crashing into minor brush that was ahead of us.  Obviously we survived, but not without scrapes and bruises.

The end of the year or the beginning of the year depending on your perspective is clearly ahead of us. There is no amount of grip on the past that will prevent us from making the journey to the other side as we feel the weight of the clock ticking and pushing us along.  Had we had more knowledge about what lays ahead we might have been able to make adjustments now to keep us from experiencing my canoe life lesson.

We do know some things. We know that no matter how much “we believe, we can achieve,” thinking we accept, it doesn’t happen magically. We know that whatever we focus on is what we are drawn toward.  We know that wishful thinking generally leaves us disappointed.  So taking what we do know, let’s use these building blocks to create a better 2013.  A year of purpose, a year of fulfillment and a year of doing what is important.

Start by taking a long look at the months that lie ahead and ask a few questions.  “If I could do one thing and knew I would not fail, what would it be?”  Don’t bring up money.  Don’t bring up lack of experience or skill.  Just focus on the one thing.  Then consider, “What are the steps to making that possible?”  And lay those steps in front of you like a pathway.  Just like the television commercial where business leaders hold up a frame and imagine the future, you can do the same.  Then replace the empty frame with a mirror, because you are the one that makes the decisions.  An ancient philosopher, Euripedes, wrote, “Question everything.  Learn something. Answer nothing.”  In 2013, don’t measure things by how impossible.  Instead, stop measuring and start doing.

For more information about the book, PAUSE: Lessons on how to get what YOU want out of life, click the link.

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