The end of the calendar year not only ushers in the Holiday Season but affords opportunity for personal reflection---what has been accomplished, what has been learned, what moments were experienced, what openings were missed. It also opens the vaults of memory to Season's past, of cherished reflections and treasured recollections, of flashbacks to events and ventures filled with joy, even some with tears. I may have been off my bike for two weeks now, but during that time--particularly in light of the Holidays--I am gratefully mindful of the delightful elation riding a bike brings me and the library of treasured memories it holds. Renown cycling author Bill Strickland once wrote, "There is no finer sport, few that are so close to the many moods of the human heart." Indeed, riding a bike can be blur-your-eyes-speed partnered to casual recreational spin pendulum experiences; a contrast of the Mardi Gras rolling caravans of the Tour De France and an early morning Saturday training ride across whisper quiet roads through the Blue Ridge Mountain foothills of northern Virginia. I recall with great fondness the many commuting rides with my dearest friend from Bolling AFB through Washington DC to the Pentagon where we were stationed nearly 20 years ago and how those rides shaped not only our physical and mental natures but also deepened our friendship and brotherhood...great recollection gifts this Holiday Season!
Fourteen days...the same amount of time sociologists and psychologists across the globe have declared and documented it takes to form life-long habits and disciplines; the same amount of time it takes for our weakend immune systems to successfully battle and overcome the common cold virus; the same amount of time it takes to---well, think about what takes YOU two weeks to accomplish? In just a few days the calendar date will turn to the year 2020 (enter applicable Barbara Walters joke here) and with it the traditional formulation of "resolutions" as proverbial personal guidelines for the next 12 months. May I encourage you, Reader, to make ONE resolution---commit yourself to 14 days of life-shaping engagements in your world. For 14 days, be intentionally kind & serving...for two weeks, give your co-workers and supervisors your B-E-S-T (Believe in them, Encourage them, Support them, Trust them)...for a fortnight, laugh deeply with friends and family---who knows what will happen in those 14 days! One thing's for sure; the first two weeks of 2020 holds life-long opportunity---here's to yours and to the journey ahead!
#LifeShapings #NowNotTomorrow
