It’s “High Tide!” Time

New Year, New Word, New Image

I know at the beginning of January a lot of us are trying to pick our “word of the year” and I did pick one but being a visual person I also wanted to have an “image of the year” and this one’s it. It also helps that I love what is written beside it.

“Every one of us is called upon, probably many times, to start a new life. A frightening diagnosis, a marriage, a move, loss of a job…And onward full tilt we go, pitched and wrecked and absurdly resolute, driven in spite of everything to make good on a new shore. To be hopeful, to embrace on possibility after another–that is surely the basic instinct…Crying out: Hgh tide! Time to move out into the glorious debris. Time to take this life for what it is.” — Barbara Kingsolver, from High Tide in Tuscon

The beginning of a new year is the chance to give  yourself and your life a clean slate. No matter what has happened (or hasn’t happened) you get the chance to start over. For me, I trust that all of my “successes” and “failures” are a part of a bigger design to instill in me the knowledge and wisdom I need to have to go forward.

I didn’t actually choose a “word of the year” for 2010 but looking back I’d say my word was “experiment”. I learned a ton about:

• What worked and didn’t work in my business because I tried and played with all sorts of different things – some hits and others were misses
• What was manageable and unmanageable in my family life as we experimented with different schedules and commitments while keeping our priorities & values in check
• The kinds of relationships I want in my life – both with family and friends- and letting go of the relationships that simply didn’t work

And the result is that I have so much more clarity about who I am, what’s important to me, where I’m going and what I need in my life.  It’s such an incredible gift! And let me tell you, there were many things that were hard about last year and many things I’d rather have not “experimented” with because it simply would have been easier to do nothing, to ignore, to sweep under the carpet.

Fortunately, that’s just not the way I roll.

Hindsight & Perspective Are Two Sweet Things

I’m curious by nature and a “doer” and I know that for me to live my best life it means rolling up my sleeves and doing some grunt work and now, sitting here on the other side of 2010, I can truly say I’m so glad I did.

In fact, on New Year’s Eve my husband and I put our kids to bed and then we each wrote out 50 things we wanted to celebrate about 2010. That’s right – 50. And then we shared our lists with each other.

Surprisingly (or not) many of the things I was celebrating on Dec 31 were experiences that I’d considered “failures” at the time. Hindsight and perspective are two sweet things. We finished our new years ritual by writing out 50 more things that we want to be celebrating come Dec 31, 2011. (This is a very cool thing to do by the way and it’s not too late!)

I know this is going to be one amazing year because I’m holding that image above in my head and my heart and I’m crying out “High Tide!” to my life.

I’d love to hear how you celebrated New Year’s and how you’re moving into this amazing new year – just drop down into the comments below.

Happy New Year to all of you!