2022: A Gift of Stepping into the Unknown

A new year brings so much prospect of hope for better. It is always the bright shining prospect of new, different and most certainly better. Even if we had a fine year it can always be better, right? Maybe this is our year! All those dreams, goals and aspirations we have ever wanted can come true …now. The turning of the calendar is a powerful action that allows the dreamer in us free at least momentarily. It is a gift to stand at the threshold of a new year and have that hope in our hearts and eyes open to the possible. We all share that feeling and power on New Year’s Eve too.

The prospect of it all is simply on our own inflection of a new year signaling this launch into new that makes it seem magical and powerful. It is a point in time where we feel nudged to serving a greater push of hope and focus that we can achieve our goals. Nature’s reminder we are all capable of achieving them. Timeless sayings reflect our desire for improvement of circumstances, experiences, fresh opportunities and simple swapping of new from the old. Even the old dusted off and made to feel new brings us this feeling sometimes.

The curious thing is if it weren’t for a change in calendar marking the new year would we still desire these things? Would we work to establish new in our lives when we needed it rather than waiting for the start of a new year? The signaling of time changing serves as a trigger we need and yet it is itself just like any moment in our lives that passes with the tick of a clock every day. Why now then does it seem like a new door opening?

I always hold a bit of anticipation in my heart on New Year’s Eve. It is like holding your breath with an electric tingle going through your body as you think about what is going to happen next. I call those my oh crap pauses. It feels like that momentary pause where things are moving in unexpected slowness as a door quietly opens and you’re expecting to be surprised. A good surprise hopefully but you never know right? I feel a flutter in my heart and know there is no turning back. Would I even want to turn back time if I could though? Is that the better answer than seeing what is ahead? I periodically will think so when I’m tired, overwhelmed and scared. It is the unknown and risk that makes us think this way I believe.

The truth is I never go into a new year thinking it will go badly. My heart won’t let me. No matter if my entire life is up in flames at the time, there is this idealistic thinking I go through that come January 1 those problems will stop and all will be good in the world for me. Things will get easier and whatever problems that come up they won’t be anything bad. I’ll overcome them easily. The truth is the time between Christmas and New Year’s is often a reprieve from daily life problems so it is easy to think this way. We can course correct and things will be easy and better because we feel in control, with a plan, have a goal and will do better. Then January happens and life returns to “normal.”

In a few hours it will be a new year. I have no resolutions, no special word or flushed out intention. I don’t even know what to expect at this point. The element of surprise over the past few years has attuned me to expect the unexpected and hope for the best. If you had told me in 2020 I would be spending the year at home without travel, wearing a paper mask in the grocery store I would have laughed at you hysterically. In 2020 I had goals, a plan and was ready for that year to be incredible. That was supposed to be a magical year! It was in fact incredible but not for any of the reasons I had outlined. 2021 followed suit much the same as 2020. So while I’d love to go into 2022 thinking this has all turned the corner, even my level of hope m