With a new year comes ideas about starting fresh, giving us a new chance to achieve our goals. Usually this sense of a fresh start is, in reality, a false hope that we as humans attach to January 1. It\u2019s a lot of pressure for a single date to be responsible for the world\u2019s \u201cfresh starts\u201d: You may not have lost the weight, written a book, gotten that promotion, earned your degree, built a nest egg, or put yourself out there more in the last year, but January 1 has arrived, bringing all the hope, determination, and passion you will need to make THIS year the year you (finally) succeed. Like I said, that\u2019s a lot of pressure.<\/p>\n
So maybe that\u2019s why 2017 seems to have made a point of bringing us to our knees before letting us even think about trying to start fresh once again. I know everyone seemed to be reeling from 2016, and the number of social media memes condemning 2016 as the worst year ever was quite impressive. We anthropomorphized the year like never before, concluding that it was \u201cout to get us\u201d by taking away beloved public figures across the board. From this perspective, 2016 took on an unprecedented power that no year before it had managed to tap into. Everyone was anxious for 2017, when the magical January 1 would somehow reset all the controls and stop the world from spiraling out of control.<\/p>\n
But 2016 did not want to go quietly, as if it needed to truly eliminate any and all resistance, eradicating any chance that we might not make 2017 a stellar year. Some good friends of mine, whom I have written about on this blog before<\/a>, ended 2016 in one of the most horrible ways possible: watching their home burn to the ground just two days after Christmas.* They lost all of their possessions and one family pet, but thankfully all the humans made it out without physical harm. The psychological wounds, of course, are deep and will take years to heal. But they are starting 2017 in a truly \u201cfresh\u201d way: with nothing but the clothes on their backs. The positivity with which they are facing this new challenge is inspiring, to be sure. No one has curled up in the fetal position and given up, which I think many would do (although the absolutely frigid temperatures as of late might thwart many fetal curling plans).<\/p>\n Yes, Mother Nature seems to be purging the negativity surrounding 2016 as well. In the last few weeks of December, we had several days that were -18 degrees\u2026without considering the wind chill. I don\u2019t think I have ever been in such cold temperatures not caused by the wind<\/em> (and I lived near the Arctic Circle for several years). I\u2019m guessing that a lot of 2016\u2019s worst of the worst did not survive that cold that swept through the US during those weeks. And 2017 seems to be taking care of anything that might have miraculously slipped through the cracks by continuing the below zero temperatures (although -4 degrees feels quite balmy compared to -18\u2026yeah, it really doesn\u2019t; once you hit single digits, it\u2019s all just cold!).<\/p>\n With all these powerful cleansing rituals bestowed upon us by 2016 and 2017, it seems like we are being set up to succeed in the new year, right? We have the chance to grow in any direction we choose. The only thing preventing us from moving forward is ourselves (although I am sure that we could come up with a few excuses for stagnation if we wanted to\u2026but let\u2019s save that for February, shall we? For now, let\u2019s relish in the success within our grasp). Okay I am really not trying to sound preachy, like \u201cthe world is yours\u2014grab it!\u201d I had planned on this post focusing on the fact that the years do not have a power over us to determine if we are successful or not. But now I worry that the \u201cyou can do it\u201d fairies might be invading my brain, perhaps because I am sitting in a local coffee shop listening to a table of farmers debate the current state of politics over white chocolate candy cane latt\u00e9s. It\u2019s a surreal moment, to be sure.<\/p>\n I am not standing on a soapbox shouting witty one-liners to bolster you for success in the coming year. I am simply saying don\u2019t give your power to succeed away to inanimate, powerless entities like years. Oh, and stay warm\u2014that I am shouting from my heated soapbox. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n