Just Past the Stroke of Midnight, the Clock Ticked

First, let me say my heart’s desire is that you have a Joyful New Year!  My New Year’s greeting comes with some hesitancy.  Many of you hope and pray for a better year, as do I.  Many of you look forward to change coming into your lives, as do I. And many set out to do things differently than what they have done in the past, as do I. I have been pondering my thoughts since the start of the New Year and my actions that have occurred up until the date of this writing and I must admit that not much has changed.

Granted, 2020 brought with it something that none of us could have expected.  Yet, we endured.  We survived.  2020 taught me to be open and to be flexible.  Perceptions changed.  Work-life-integration became widely acceptable.  A “no” to working from home became “yes, do what you can to keep the operation going.”  Social norms shifted. Physical connection turned into social distancing.  The changes seemed endless.  Many sought normalcy.  I learned that what was normal was not normal after all.  I questioned, had I grown complacent?  Had I gotten too comfortable with the way things were? 

Did I expect that because we give a new title to the coming 365 days that I was going to be a different person?  Did I expect life would begin anew?  Did I anticipate change was finally going to come?  Quite contrary…to these expectations, I did not expect nor did I anticipate. 

I realize that at every tick of the clock I have these very same anticipations.  I realize that opportunity sits before me no matter what day or time it is.  Moment by moment, I get to live in choice, to seize the moment, and live a value-committed life. 

The stroke of the hand just past midnight, December 31, 2020, was simply the turn of time.  The mark of what we call a new year.  It was how some designate the opportunity for new beginnings. 

Well, here we are in the year 2021!  How will you live from tick to tock?