Where are we going? Reflections of things that have passed, things that are here and things that we hope will come in the future. Have we done well, accomplished what we set out to? Are we making our mark, leaving our legacies? Does it matter?
I’m not the type of person to make a list of goals or even a list of resolutions. I figure if I’d wanted to make changes I wouldn’t need to wait until New Year’s Eve to do so. Now I simply look at the end of the year as an opportunity to enjoy the present moment even more. Maybe that’s selfish or self centered or maybe it’s just smart. Over the years with all the traveling I’ve done and all the different places I’ve lived and situations I’ve lived through I’ve always pretty much been living "in the moment", mostly because I simply didn’t take the time to think ahead. I was too busy living, never really wanting to plan ahead, content in the great adventure of not knowing what the future holds and letting my footsteps take me where they may.
Later in life I realized more that each step I took had to be savored. I would make mental notes, closing my eyes remembering the sounds, the smells, what I had seen, how I had reacted, how fast my heart was beating what I was feeling, breathing in and out slowly, trying to absorb the moment, cement it in my brain. I did this all so that at a later date I could try to conjure up the memory and relive it all over again at will. Of course with all my effort it was never as vivid nor as intense as being there, the magic or fear of the moment had passed. I knew already I would never get back that instant in time. I would never feel the same way. The moment had lived and died and left only its essence in the form of a memory.
Enjoy the New Year and every moment and step that comes with it…I will be here breathing it in and out slowing…savoring the flavors of my soon-to-be memory.
