The new year is often ripe with expectation. Expectations that we will do something grand and adventurous, lose weight, be promoted, fall in love…and so on. Sometimes we publicly pronounce these expectations as resolutions and other times we keep them private and buried deep within us.
For me, it is very rare that one or any of these expectations are met in the way that I envisioned. I have had grand things happen over the course of my life but never in the way that I expected. The majority of the good/great in my life has come to me as a complete surprise…just as the bad has come as a complete surprise.
Today is January 3, 2013. Today I am gearing up for a new semester of my doctoral program and a new year. Something is a little different for me this new year. I am trying my best (notice that I said my best…not perfectly) to let go of any expectations that may still be lingering from 2012 and from setting expectations for 2013. I guess you could say that I am embracing the “live and let live” attitude.
This is not to say that I do not have hope for 2013. Because I do. I have hope that I will make healthy decisions for myself (physically and mentally), that I will nurture the relationships that I treasure, that I will challenge myself, and that I will be happy. How all of this will happen is unknown to me but I am hopeful and ready to watch it all unfold.
I am already feeling a wave of liberation. I do not have an expectation that X, Y, and Z will happen in 2013. I have hope that it will be a memorable year and I know that being hopeful and open to anything is what will make it memorable.
So maybe instead of making those resolutions for yourself you can focus on embracing hope for 2013. Hope that you will be able to embrace the good…no matter how much bad you encounter.
Happy new year!
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No Thoughts About Hope for 2013