Spiraling Up

It is New Year’s Eve, and I am contemplating the human tendency to embrace milestones and seasonal symbolism. For the most part, I resist change and prefer to stay within the safe and predictable. I have long ago ceased making resolutions on this day, as I have learned that declaring self a “new person” rarely seems to stick, as I find myself falling into old habits rather than following new intentions.

There are those who seem to make radical life adjustments and appear to become “new people” almost over-night. I think those swift and drastic transitions are rare, however, and realistic change comes more gradually. I have spoken with many who find themselves making similar judgement errors, adopting familiar self-defeating behaviors, or slipping into old unwanted habits repetitively, insisting that they are “right back where they started” after thinking they had made so much progress.

I would like to challenge this perception.

In reality, we cannot go backwards, so we never really fall back into the same place. We cannot unlearn the past year’s knowledge or delete the experiences we have had. We will be different this coming January 1st than we were last January 1st even if only in that we have lived one more year. Most of the time, when we repeat behaviors, we are acting from a greater level of awareness. Although, we may feel like we have gone in a circle and are back where we started, we are another level up. We are not merely circling; we are spiraling. It may take a few tries before the habits are broken, the behaviors are modified, or the relationships are healed, but in the very act of moving forward, of living every day consciously, and of being aware of the changes we wish to make, we are making progress.

Will my life change drastically tomorrow, January 1st? Probably not. However, I am moving forward steadily through new experiences as well as through experiences that seem familiar.

Just be who you are how you are every moment with awareness and with love. You are becoming every day of the year.