The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul - G. K. Chesterton
The greatest discovery of our generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind. As you think, so shall you be - William James
I trust you had a wonderful, restful and rejuvenating festive time. I hope you are feeling positive and looking forward to the new year. More specifically, I hope you are looking forward to a year of personal growth rather than a year of better luck, a year of deeper understanding and insight rather than a year of accumulation of facts and information, a year of wonder and awe rather than a year of never-ending analysis and attempts to control, a year of significance rather than a year of awards and recognition, a year of serenity and inner peace rather than a year of rush and constant excitement. Growing to higher levels of personal capacity, character, resilience and meaning is certainly more responsible and satisfying than hoping for the accidental fortune that might come one’s way, more responsible and satisfying than indiscriminately joining the crowds and the rat-race.
What do you see for yourself in this new year? As the Bible in Ecclesiastes chapter three reminds us, there is a time for everything: A time to plant and a time to uproot; a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to search and a time to give up; a time to be silent and a time to speak. Life is best lived when one respects the various cycles that typify our lives. Good judgment of the right time to do something or not to do it, is therefore as important as the thought or idea that we consider to act on and the action itself. So, what do you see for yourself in the year 2009? Is it time for you to ‘plant’ something new, to initiate a new project, to follow your dream of the last two or three years and do something completely different? Or is it time for you to carry through previous initiatives, to continue to be the mainstay and calming influence in the office or to stay strong and focused amidst turbulent personal circumstances?
How do we know when it is the right time to speak and when to be silent or to keep on searching for something and when to give it up? If there was a simple or obvious answer to this question we would have missed out on the wonder of being human, the wonder of making discoveries and of learning through life experiences. We would have been no more than robots. As Rita Mae Brown says, good judgment comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgment. We have no recipes or manuals that tell us precisely when to do what in every situation. Yes, there is spiritual guidance as many of us believe, but not in a way that takes away our responsibility and ability to think, to will and to choose. What I believe is essential is to stay true to oneself. By that I mean that we need to fully appreciate our unique design to be that one person that the world from beginning to end will only see once. What an amazing thought! Indeed, to love that person, which is not the same as to justify everything that that person does or think. We are also confronted with the reality of evil.
To love oneself is to thankfully embrace the seed of potential and beauty that was given to you as the uniquely designed life of a human being. This is not something that someone else can do in your place. You have to do it yourself. It is not something that you get the answer to by looking at your parents or other influential people in your life. You only find it by looking at yourself in a spiritually connected way. Our ability to read situations, to pick up the signals from our inner being and to make sound judgment calls is severely impeded the further we drift away from being and living the full potential of that uniquely created person that each one of us is. In other words, the more we live inauthentic lives, the more we invite evil in our lives, the worse our chances are of judging the right time for the right actions. Over time we then get the feeling that our space in life is cramped. We feel dependent on a ‘lucky break’ of some kind to open up new possibilities - even when other people think we live privileged, respected and prosperous lives. We become externally driven and in need of others approval and admiration. And so can one year become two, ten, twenty or seventy years, and the lucky break unfortunately never came. Wasted potential! Rather, as Ralph Waldo Emerson asserts: Each man has his own vocation; his talent is his call. There is one direction in which all space is open to him. I find it inspirational, not only for myself but for everyone else.
Whatever you think of doing in 2009, be inspired. That way you will also inspire others. ‘Without inspiration the best powers of the mind remain dormant, they are a fuel in us which needs to be ignited’, said Johann Gottfried Von Herder. And Beethoven said, ‘Inspiration is for me that mysterious state in which the entire world seems to form a vast harmony, when every sentiment, every thought re-echoes within me, when all the forces of nature become instruments for me, when my whole body shivers and my hair stands on end.’ As we all have experienced, we don’t remain too long in such a state, but the creative power of those moments can be experienced and can inspire others for generations – as Beethoven’s compositions do. But inspiration is more than a special feeling that comes and goes and it is more than the kick start for artists. As the Latin origin of the word (inspirare = to breathe, to inflame, to blow into) and the English word ‘spirit’ that is derived from ‘spirare’ indicate, it is also the spirit we carry with us from moment to moment, from breath to breath. It begs the question: Who or what is the main source of our own inspiration and can it sustain us for anything that we may encounter in this world?
With everything said above, let me wish you a year full of inspiration with one last wise quote: The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become - Charles DuBois.
Best regards
Gerhard
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