Well, here we are - another year come and gone, and I sit, wondering what I should write about for my holiday wishes to one and all. I'm going to borrow a phrase from the film Jerry McGuire and say, "We live in a cynical, cynical world." And right now, that world is full of anger, frustration, and outright hate - to the point where making merry and enjoying what has customarily become a season of hope and joy and peace seems but a far-off dream, a thing of fiction that once titillated us, but now has lost its lustre.
As we edge closer and closer to socio-political upheaval, I look at the world and I know I should be uneasy: things as we have known them are collapsing, and the signs of it are all around us. And yet, I'm not. I know that somehow, everything will be fine. Everything will come out OK - but it will probably require a major shift in how we identify just what "OK" really is. And so, I think that's where I will begin my wish for each one of you.
I wish you to know change. The changes that come with new definitions, new challenges, new successes, new failures - with growth of the human spirit that dwells within each of us. No, it's never comfortable. Change is scary. It's difficult to see the end result, because change is always something new that we haven't experienced. So in that change, I hope you find vision.
Change requires creativity - in redefining who we are, how we live, and how we accept the challenges life offers us, and how we deal with them. It requires us to take a chance and try something, unsure of the outcome, but working to make it work anyway. It requires us to formulate new ways of thinking and being that build upon what we already know, and we cannot do that by playing by the rules - we have to make new rules. May you find the creativity to live out that vision.
Change requires faith. To trust in the unknown, to trust in each other, to believe in the good that is within all of us with such fervor that anyone who looks at you, thinks of you, witnesses your faith in them is bound by the sheer guilt of letting you down to BE exactly what you faithfully see. That kind of faith is unshakable, and it inspires. May you have faith - in all things.
Change requires a certain bit of fearlessness. We have to put aside the fear of things working out poorly, the "worst-case scenarios" that we all dream up that only serve to hold us back. They serve one purpose: they squander the energy that we could put into being creative, faithful, and having a vision of something better.
We have done things a certain way for a very long time. It has led us to a place that isn't where any of us want to be. No one wants to read about the violence that is gripping our world, about the hatred and fear that drives people from their homes, or about the wars that no one even understands anymore. We cannot be afraid of the change - and the sacrifices that change will require - to build a world where peace is the rule, not the exception. Yes - it will turn your life on its head, but that might be a good thing. It might mean new jobs, new roles in your personal life, new houses, new cities, less stuff, a simpler existence - it can be so many things that we can scarcely imagine...yet. But they are all possible. We can change. And in this holiday season of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Saturnalia, Yuletide - and the host of other practices I'm sure I've left out - I wish for everyone a new year of change.
May you know the peace and love of family and friends, and may the change of 2016 find you happy, healthy, and full of opportunity!!!
Thanks for reading,
Me.
