New year’s eve was a simple family affair. The day was filled with love, laughter and good food with family. As the clock ticked closer to 12AM, we sat together anticipating fireworks around us before calling it a day. That wait felt longer as it always does when you anticipate anything.
Kids started reflecting on 2023 which, for them, was mostly about their academic and extra-curricular pursuits. Interestingly, one of the high-points for my 11 yrs old son was getting a set of acrylic markers for his artistic endeavors! Kids revel in small joys of life that we grown-ups often take for granted. We took turns to look back at 2023 and express what we hope for in 2024. It is a powerful family exercise that I recommend we should do several times in a year. Collective expression of hopes, desires and fears only strengthens the bond we share.
At the end of it with just 5 minutes to go, one thing was clear. We were deeply grateful for everything 2023 had to offer. Despite all challenges including life threatening medical situations in the family, we were grateful for the strength we received to handle it all with grace, calm and a stoic focus on our circle of action. As they say, “All’s well that ends well.”
“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can clearly say to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own..” – Epictetus, Discourses
Calm optimism and gratitude fills the air around me on the first day of 2024. That’s what a new year does to us. A new dawn that brings 366 fresh opportunities (thanks to a leap year) to embrace new experiences, follow your heart’s path and be kind to others along the way. A blank slate to write the story our heart yearns to write.
Wishing you a joyful, abundant and glorious 2024!