Of course as the New Year approaches, it is natural to pause and give thought to what lies ahead.  My normal inclination would be to make a list of resolutions, but I can tell this year, something has shifted.  Maybe it is the fact that by taking charge of our finances, we have already begun the work of setting the stage for 2010.  We were in bankruptcy court last Friday and it struck me that everyone in that room was about to go into the New Year a little bit wiser, a little bit sadder, a little bit more somber than in some other years.  Facing the truth can be sobering, to say the very least.

But my experience of the past week has been less than sad.  Actually a more grounded sense of happiness.  I’ve taken each day at its value and have been able to shift into a realization that this is the day that I need to be fully responsible for, every day.  And that has brought me joy.  Of course there are goals and promises that I have made to myself that are future-focused, but the main one is to remain in this place – to stay activated, positive, and grounded in the present day.  Rebounding for me has been about letting go of past hurts, mistakes, and regrets and making the choice to allow myself to my best today.  I have every confidence that the future will get built one day at a time that way; and with my best foot forward, who can say what will come?

I have been working with a remarkable coach named Brigitte and she had a phrase she shared the other day that really struck a chord with me, stating that we must “failing our way to success.”  There is intense freedom available to us in that phrase, because we can remove the need to be perfect, to have perfect outcomes, and instead we can engage ourselves in the process of success – which really hinges on our ability to bring our best to the moment right in front of us.  So maybe instead of making a laundry list of New Year’s Resolutions, maybe this year we could focus on simply resolving to make the best choices we can, moment by moment.  Staying engaged, being conscious that there are choices, remaining grounded in our responsibility to ourselves to be our biggest, best, and brightest selves all year long.  Maybe if we could focus on that instead of a list, the light that we shine will outlast the mid-January fizzle and we’ll find success in each day on its own terms.