"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."

The New Year arrives as a parcel of luminous anticipation. Delicately, we hold all its promising potential, as we would hold our breath. The New Year appears like the fragility of a dream, awaiting fulfillment, an elusive bud before it blossoms.



We pencil our resolutions, for the New Year, staining papers with inscriptions of both ambition and doubt. Those who fear failing, make no resolutions at all.



On the eve of two-thousand and nine, I compose a singular resolution: to live passionately, and thoughtfully. If we live with all we have, with intent to make each hour our finest, what can we regret?



It is not that we should try for flawlessness, but that we try. Always forgive, because the human spirit is easily splintered by grudges. Speak tenderly, lovingly. Allow the fluency of routine be interrupted, at times, by impulsiveness. And pray, never clip the wings of hope, for with them, you can rise above despair.



Life is far less in memory, and spirit, though, if we do not stop and savor in all that is tender and warmhearted: The intimacy of a kiss, of breathless desire. The winded laughter of friends, echoing into long emptied coffee mugs and lamp lit rooms. The vivacious feeling, of an affectionate embrace. The stretching smile of unadulterated delight, from someone dear, someone cherished.



We live, and this world we live in is satiated in splendor, in daily miracles of magnificence, only waiting for one to lift the blinders of materialism and observe: The silken yawn of dawn and dusk. Sun beams fragmented, like a kaleidoscope, by leafy tree tops. The scent of the earth after a summer rain. The sea, with all its elegance and vigor. Misty mornings, blades of grass crowned with dew. Fireflies winking in the melodious twilight of summer. The serenity of earth laden with the pale powder of snow. The tiny pin-pricks of stars in the ebony mantle of sky.



And then there is, the sacred rhythms of your heartbeat, the delicate whistle of your own breath. The intricate, mystifying ways in which the human body survives. That we are here, that we are alive...



What are your New Year's resolutions, if any? What are your greatest hopes for the upcoming year? How well do you usually keep the resolutions you make? Other thoughts?

Title Quote: Lao-Tzu
Photo Credits: Photographer Kim at www.flickr.com/photos/depressiverealism