I’ve been wandering around the house over the last few days feeling excited. I mean, really optimistic. Giddy almost.
It could be because I finally feel like I have some head space to enjoy a bit of personal time. It’s been a busy year but the holidays have allowed me to relax a bit. But I know it’s also because I can’t wait for 2013.
It’s not that 2012 was so bad (though with two deaths in the family, website crashes and other minor inconveniences here and there, things were not perfect), but it’s more that I feel like I have a clean slate to work with. “A collective reset button for everyone on the Gregorian calendar,” as our friend, Linda, put it this weekend.
I’ve been thinking… what if I could capture this feeling of anticipation, positive expectation and good intentions and recreate it every month or every week? Heck, every day for that matter! That way, I could constantly be in a state of looking forward to the next opportunity rather than dreading certain moments – such as the email from my webmaster that says it will be another X number of dollars to fix the site.
The reality is that I have control over these thoughts. These feelings of excitement and optimism. It’s the ONLY thing I have control over, really. Change is inevitable. Life will continue to throw me curve balls. Other than the fact that it’s really hard to do, there’s no reason why I can’t train myself to pop out of bed every day with the same enthusiasm and feeling of looking forward to what the universe has in store.
Which reminds me of The Life of Pi.
I saw the movie (in 3D, how fun!) a few days ago. Loved it. I read the book and thought I’d be disappointed in the film but went at a friend’s urging.
You may know the story. A young boy finds himself adrift on a boat in the middle of the ocean after a shipwreck. His only companion is a vicious tiger. He struggles with his own survival as well as his compassion for this animal, his enemy. I won’t spoil the ending but it’s a happy (and thought-provoking) one.
The cinematography alone was worth the ticket price. But the message… looking at life as a glass half-full, was a priceless reminder for me.
We all have the ability, the choice, really, to look at life with the excitement of a child (or not). It’s just as Albert Einstein said, “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
The trick is to appreciate the here and now, each little miracle, without dwelling on the past (as Pi taught us) and approaching each day with the excitement knowing that we have a clean slate to work with. Every year, every month, every week, every day, every hour, every minute – we can hit the reset button. We’re in control.
As I was searching for an appropriate photo for today’s post, Jon called me to the window and said, “Look at this!” The sun was rising up over the mountains outside our window in Seattle. A miracle really. And a temporary one at that. Something to be appreciated at that moment because as surely as it was there, minutes later it was gone.
I have many new year’s resolutions this year. A list of to-do’s and accomplishments. But the “simple” goal of spending the year looking at the glass half full and appreciating the miracle of sunrises is what I’ll be focusing on.
Travel Well,
Lauren says
Love this post. I’ve been so tired out by this last year that I felt like I barely had enough energy to greet the new one. We all need a fresh start for 2013, and a good strong dose of optimism. Lots of adventures waiting out there to be had!
Beth Shepherd says
I’ll toast to that! And it was one heckuva sunrise this morning. We sat and looked with our jaws dropped too.
Sarah Shaw says
Here’s to a collective reset! Hope 2013 is full of health and happiness!
Barbara Pfleeger says
This past year my beloved husband, Stephen, passed on. His epitaph is, “I’m off on another adventure”! And I’m sure he is. We had twenty wonderful years together as soulmates, traveled the world, and lived life to the fullest. I miss him terribly, but I am so grateful of what we HAD together and want to honor his memory buy continuing to to travel, having fun with my great friends and neighbors and enjoying my retirement.
budget jan says
I just saw the Hobbit in 3D and that was amazing. While there I saw a preview for the Life of Pi which also looked amazing. Glad to know you saw it and liked it. Maybe I will go this week-end. Here’s to a glass that is half full.
Nancy says
I saw that sunrise Beth. A wonder, for sure. Thanks for this post.
Deb says
Glad to hear that you liked the Life of Pi. We’ve been hesitant to go see it too because we loved the book. Now I’m going to have to make a trip to the theatre. And great message to your post. Appreciate the here and now and work on being optimistic. It’s easy for all of us to fall into dwelling on the negative, but when we make a choice to think positive, it really makes a difference.
Beth Whitman - Wanderluster says
Oh, go see it. In 3D if you can. They really did a beautiful job on the film and I found it really inspirational.