Photo by Daria Shevtsova on Unsplash

 

What shall it unwrap for us? What gifts are coming forward? What shall we embrace as this New Year unfolds? I move forward with some sorrows, some joys, few regrets and lots of projects that I’m working on. I never have enough time with those I cherish most. It is ironic that my time is spent giving presence to those who are ill, recuperating or dying yet my family and friends seem not to need or want as much time. Our lives get filled with busy-ness while the things I treasure most lurk on the sidelines. What I wish for most is time to be. Being is such a treasure. I want to be with my friends, laughing, playing. I want to be with my daughter and son with joys and pleasures, enjoying simple things like cooking a meal, watching a movie, going for a walk, playing cards. It is so easy to forget those things that matter the most: loving, forgiving and being forgiven, saying thank you.

 

What I wish for myself, and all of you, is time to do those four simple things. They are the most precious of all. Ira Byock, MD wrote about them in her book The Four Things that Matter Most. I heartily agree with her. There is nothing more healing than love, pure simple love. And forgiveness. God knows, I’ve needed this from many. And others have likewise needed it from me. Allowing myself to be clear-thinking enough and vulnerable enough both to give and get forgiveness has been freeing as well as a wellspring of additional love that was just waiting behind those closed gates of anger, resentment, bitterness, fear.

 

I wish you all the same grace and pleasure for this coming year.