The third cup

Hi neighbors. One big holiday left before we all turn over a new leaf (of our calendars at least) and start a new year.

I guess we should use this week to think about 2003 before we start getting too excited about 2004. News reports and magazines will be telling us what the big news stories were in 2003 around the world.

Contests will be held about the best movies and books; the best actors and writers. Other groups will judge the best music, the best television this and that.

There will be plenty of media coverage about how every thing and every one around us impacted our culture or planet.

But who will tell us how we impacted ourselves, our families and our communities? That understanding might be left up to us individually. Only we know what rungs we have, or have not, climbed on our own personal ladder of success.

Comparing 2002 to 2003 might give us some insights. What were we doing this time last year? What did we think would be different by the end 2003? Have each of us done more to change our lifestyles or reach our goals?

Can we look back on the year and say we gave it our best shot? Or must we sit and wonder where the time has gone and say here it is another year gone and things don't seem to have changed much.

Have changes in our lives been because of what we have done or what we have allowed to happen? Some of us may have a little more gray in our hair, a little more girth to our hips and a few less new ideas up our sleeves.

Maybe we shouldn't look at the past year as simply a list of goals accomplished or still under construction. We shouldn't consider the time spent as a collection of disappointments or triumphs.

Like all things in our lives, the last twelve months have been a phase; a part of a continuous cycle. We all go through times that involve a rite of passage, a time of reflection, a plateau, or a period of extreme effort similar to a sprint. We can, of course, determine our cycles to some extent; but sometimes we simply choose to go with the flow.

However we have lived the last year, it has passed. The results or residue of the year are still with us and might continue to be with us for several more years.

It never hurts to take time to see where we are on our own personal path. There is no better time than this week between 2003 and 2004. What we did or didn't get for Christmas seems unimportant now and our short sightedness of the last few weeks quickly turns to hindsight.

What areas in our lives have we made great strides in? What other areas have we not met our goals? Are there parts of our lives we have completely ignored? If we had to make a pie chart of how we've spent the last year, how would we label the largest piece? The smallest piece? Are we satisfied with those divisions?

Every day it seems there are more and more things and people and events demanding our attention. As we look back on 2003, can we see which squeaking wheels we took time to oil and which ones we left to grind?

So many things to consider when we try keeping our lives organized, productive, active and happy. It's like having so many channels on television you fear missing one show while watching another. Unfortunately, with our lives there are no video recorders to tape something today to get back to tomorrow.

Each piece of our personal pie charts are measured every day. As the year progresses, the chart can change like the phases of the moon but still be addressing each of our personal needs over time.

This week we can spend looking back, taking stock of what we did and didn't do, and decide what we should change in 2004.

Until the next time, friends, remember; if you look back on 2003 and decide you spent a year not doing much of anything, there is still hope for 2004. But hope cannot do it alone! It takes action to make things happen, determination and work to bring about change. Let's make 2004 a year we do something. A year we make a difference in our lives 2005 will be here before we know it.