Life is but a collection of memories; pictures, feelings and emotions from individual moments in the calendar that is our lives. Some are immediate and crystal clear as the emotion of the time etches into our soul those moments of passion, joy, pain or hurt. Some are buried deep, left to interact with our minds and lives on a level that guides but is seldom understood.
It is enlightening to reflect back upon the experiences of one's life and see what chose to stick. What makes an individual unique but their memories and the path those experiences led them to follow? That first kiss, leaving us speechless but floating; the death of a loved one, pain coursing through our cores in waves as we struggle to say good-bye, as the realization that they are gone, never again to hug or comfort us, to give advice or just lend an ear hits with a suddenness; the recollection of the moment in our life we shined, that all eyes were upon us for something we did well; of childhood fears, being up on stage at a spelling bee, sweating as we struggle to recall the spelling of a word we would never again use.
2008 has brought with it the hope of change, the new year brings with it the opportunity. Looking back upon the past year one cannot help but look within and feel the true path of their life and the effects that life has on the world around them. It is in this introspection that one is allowed the honesty of life, a brief moment of respite from no critic but the one that resides within.
The question is, what is that critic saying? Change is, for most, a scary thing, for some, more debilitating than watching the impending impact of collision from behind the steering wheel. The challenge is to not only have the strength to understand what needs change and actually work towards its end but to also understand what we can do to help those around us solve their own puzzles.
Here is wishing everyone, be you Republican or Democrat, inner city or corporate, loved or hated the wishes of a New Year filled with hope, that we all will honestly ask ourselves what we would do differently and possess the strength to see it through to it's change.
