Are we moving forward or retreating in 2023?

So, a new year has, again, entered into our midst. What do we plan to do with this new beginning? Will we constantly reminisce about what happened last year? Perhaps we will expect good things to land on our doorsteps. Will good fortune visit us without any effort on our part, or is it often tempting to blame the bad on something or someone else? We may even expect God to make changes in our lives, to do it for us. We all, have different ideas about how we will approach this new beginning and make a new start.

Sometimes we walk through the door of the new year with a negative attitude, saying to ourselves, "I'm doing nothing because I never complete my resolutions anyway," or we may allow thoughts of the bad, that occurred last year, to impact our motivation to make the present a better one. We need to ask whether we are responsible for the outcome of our life, or does some mysterious, outside and unknown force, determine what happens. Maybe we believe that fate is in charge, and that it doesn't matter how much effort we exert--whatever will happen, will happen--and there's nothing we can do about it. Although, oftentimes, it seems that way, we can never give up and assume that attitude.

This year can be a wonderful year if we get behind the plough and continue walking, first, up one row and back down the other. During yesteryear, many people used a plow that was pulled by a horse with a person walking behind. The tiller had to keep his eyes focused toward the front. He knew if he kept his eyes focused toward the front, he would, eventually, finish his job. If it rained one day, he staunchly, cut his losses and pursued his goal of finishing the tilling, hopefully, the next day. The farmer must either continue working toward his aim or have no crop.

Today we still have the option to press on and accomplish a thing that's important to us--one that will deliver a sense of fulfillment--or we can do nothing and be forced to go on living anyway. It's truly our choice whether to dwell on what's wrong with the world and what's wrong within our existence, or to realize that nothing is free (except God's love). We have little or no choice, except we must go on in spite of what has occurred. Let us decide to make our lives as happy and productive as possible and choose happiness rather than despair.

As I write, today, I see raindrops falling upon my windowsill. This is New Year's Eve and one would desire that the New Year would come in with exuberance. Sunshine would be skipping across the yards and meadows, sparkling with glee. I look outside and determine that my joy in bringing the New Year into my life lies within my mind and my heart. How the weather looks and feels, outside, makes little difference, unless I allow it to. It's what's inside me that is the determining factor, and what makes the difference between joy and sadness. Life is filled with struggle and will always be, but regardless, we can make up our minds to press on knowing that peace and joy will ensue. However lost or empty we feel, we can move forward. Crippled or not, we have to go on.

In her book, "Scarred by struggle, transformed by hope," author, Joan Chittister says that there is a spirituality of struggle. Chittister says, "The spirituality of struggle begins with the decision to grow or to retreat, to live a little more, or to die. It is a decision of great import."

The New Year is a time to quietly reflect on our life. Ask, what you did, what are you working on, now, that you would like to finish? Have you grown, or let negativity take over your mind? Reflection is important. It helps us tie ends together. Decide that in spite of how bad things seem, we will look forward toward to our God for answers, and realize there's an end to everything as well as a new beginning.