Welcome to ... The home stretch of a year whichhas shown us that terrible things do happen to ... just minding their own ... At the ... we've seen that good common people can
Welcome to December. The home stretch of a year which has shown us that terrible things do happen to good people just minding their own business. At the same time, we've seen that good common people can become better than anyone could have believed when the mission they find themselves in becomes greater than all their days combined.
As years end, it's often a time to look back on what has happened. We look at where we are, what we have and where we were 12 months ago. We may think about what we wanted to accomplish during the year but just never got around to. We see all the daily interruptions that got in our way of doing something we would rather have done.
We look around at others who seem happy and we think about how much we "wish" we could be like them or do what they are doing. But we just "know" we don't have time to do it. Either that, or our life-long circumstances have made it impossible for us to come even close to doing something as "wonderful" as that.
Looking back is all too easy to see where we fell short, things we should have done differently, things we should not have wasted the time or money on. Boy, if we only had a dime for every time each of us felt that way in our lives, there would be so many more millionaires in this world.
Unlike many sports where you get an intermission between quarters or can call a timeout as in football, life doesn't work that way. It's more of an auto race or a marathon. It doesn't just stop at certain points giving us a chance to rest, the clock is always ticking and we are always moving forward (if we want to, or not).
In a race, we look back to compare ourselves to everyone else. In life, we look back to compare ourselves with, well… ourselves. Sure, we may not as wealthy as John Doe nor as happy in our career as Jane Doe seems to be, but they don't matter when it comes to our own ideas and hopes for ourselves.
That's why each year when the pages on the calendar become fewer, and it's time to get a new one, we begin to think ahead of what we can accomplish.
When we get that new calendar, WE have the chance of filling in the empty spaces with our own plans, our own things to do, our own moments to live for. You know, it's funny. We look back at our lives and wonder just where all the time went. Yet, we look forward to something and feel it is just so far away, and wonder if it will ever get here. Well Virginia, yes, it will get here.
It's like the story of two friends talking. One saying that he would like to change his whole career and become a teacher. But says it will take 4 whole years of classes and studying and tests and grades before he finishes, and he'll be four years older by time he is done. His friend asks him just one simple question. "How much older will you be in 4 years if you don't go back to school to gain that piece of paper that says you can teach?
Time will go by no matter if we like it or not. So this time of year, somewhat of a pre-amble to the New Years resolutions, is our chance to adjust our game plan. Our chance to peek back to see where we have come and how far we are willing to go. It is our chance to get out next year's calendar and fill in the blanks so we can have a "better-than-the-year-before" experience.
David Stoddard is a writer, commentator and motivational speaker. His electronic newsletter (Que Sera Sera) is dedicated to giving it's readers a gentle kick in the pants toward their dreams. Subscribe by visiting the web at http://www.dstoddard.net or by sending a message to que_sera_sera-subscribe@topica.com.
