Here we are at the beginning of a new year with 365 blank days ready to be filled. Each day is like a page in a book and the story of that book is written by how you decide to spend your moments. How are you going to fill the pages of your life?
It isn’t difficult these days to find plenty to complain about. Those with little imagination can always lament but those with vision and wisdom write the story of their life with gratitude and gentleness.
They are the ones who see the touch of divinity in seemingly ordinary occurrences. They gather these occurrences like one may gather shells on the beach or stones along a hike. They are gathered and placed into one place to be reviewed and admired for the beauty they hold.
One way to do this is simply by hanging a calendar on your refrigerator and making note daily of all the beauty you witness. Record the day you bumped into an old friend at the grocery store and spent 45 minutes in the cereal aisle talking or the day your new arm chair arrived after months of waiting. Make note on that calendar of the brilliance of the full moon or the day you saw your first Robin in the spring. Ink in the day the daffodils bloomed, the roses filled the air with fragrance and the day you noticed the first red autumn leaf.
Then, as the year draws to an end create a ceremony of reviewing your year. Make a cup of tea or pour a glass of wine and in a quiet space slowly flip through the months making note of the days, pausing to remember the moments and savoring the memories. Welcome to the story of your life!
As John Lennon sings in his song Beautiful Boy, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” Don’t miss out on the beautiful story of your life by only using the calendar to write down Doctor’s Appointments, bill payments and when the car needs an oil change. Don’t miss out on the divinity in your life by only remembering who slighted you, what upset you and who made you angry. Instead, take a daily inventory of all the beauty your life holds.
Happy New Year Everyone,
Rev. Heather McCarrel
