Happy New Year.. Welcome to 2018..

Happy New Year everyone..

As this day approached I, like every one of you, began to think of what my resolutions would be for this new year. Would I lose the minimal 10 pounds I know I need to lose. Should I resolve to finish my course work, get my health in order, or spend more time on my career? All these things I need to accomplish. But as I looked back at the past year and remembered what I saw every time I turned on my television and sometimes my phone or computer; the vile viciousness, the hatred, the violence, the ugliness, how divided we were – and becoming more so, I thought I needed to make better, bigger, bolder resolutions in this new year. I need to try to bridge the divide. I think I have known this for some time, it is now time to step up.

Then I read an article about how most of us fail to follow or complete our New Year’s resolutions – so true. The author suggested that we think about what we truly want for our year to come and express it in one word. Then we live that one word in our daily lives. Remembering last year, and feeling like it would continue into this year, when I began thinking about ways that I wanted to change this year, I tried to see if it summed up in one word. You see I want to become the person who sees someone hungry and shares my meal, to see someone sick and do what I can to make them feel better, to see someone blinded by whatever it is and give them clarity, and to see someone who feels so alone and lonely and make them know that they are not alone. Very lofty goals I know. And can they be expressed in one word? If they can, I think the one word and my word this year will be “GIVING”.

I think I will begin my giving by sharing something I wrote several years ago. I hope you like it, and even more so, I hope it makes you think about yourself and your effect on this world. For it is my belief that every moment matters. Here it is:

                        
                            ALL OF ME


I have gone through life
With my hand held out
For anyone who wanted to take hold
Several tried to slap it shut
But they could not get it to fold

I have also stood
With my arms open wide
For anyone who wanted a hug
Several tried to get my arms to close
But they could only get me to shrug

As soon as I could feel, it beat
I have offered up my heart
For anyone who wanted, or needed, to feel love
Several tried to make it break
But they did not know, what it was made of

When I felt like I was old enough
I have offered up my brain
For anyone who had, like me, an eagerness to learn
Several tried to get my mind to close
But they could not stop my intellectual yearn

Eventually I have offered all of me
My hand, my heart, my brain
For anyone who wanted a friend to hold, to love, to share ideas
Several tried to take pieces of me
But they could not see, love replenishes, it appears

I have learned that life is truly lived
When the gift I give is me
From the touch of my hand, pang of my heart, 
Or something I need to teach
It matters not the length of time that is shared
It matters the depth that is reached

by,
Laura Standrowicz
c: May 2010

So as I enter my year of giving, if the only thing I have to give is myself, then I shall do what it takes to not break this New Year’s resolution. And I hope with all my heart that each one of us, finds the strength and fortitude to keep our New Year’s resolutions, whatever they may be. Most importantly, I hope that we all find a way to make 2018 a very good year — together.