It is nearly the end of the year and a good time to review the highlights of the last year and set intentions for the new year. This time between Christmas and New Year feels like a present – stolen time. The run up to Christmas is so frantic with so much to do, people to see and so many expectations to live up to. Then comes the day after Boxing day with a “Well, what now then?” feeling and there isn’t anything, just a blissfully large helping of time…. that most precious commodity so often in very short supply. Suddenly the birds are singing and the sun is shining more brightly, at least in the absence of stress these things are more apparent. Even the bare, skeleton trees seem more beautiful and things conspire to remind one of the beauty of life itself. Now it is possible to see and feel the important things in life and to realise that most of them are already here and there is a feeling of gratitude that all is how it should be and all is well. It reminds me of this quote from the film American Beauty:
It’s hard to stay mad when there is so much beauty in the world.
Sometimes I feel like I am seeing it all at once and its too much.
My heart fills up like a balloon that’s about to burst.
And then I remember to relax and to stop trying to hold onto it
And then it flows through me like rain.
And I can’t feel anything but gratitude
For every single moment of my stupid little life.
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Happy New Year!!
Helen Cranston 