Happy New Year, Everyone!

I am positive I’m not alone when I say, “I can’t believe 2 weeks have already gone by in the new year!” It’s true, time waits for no one. The days, months, and years continue to move on whether we, ourselves, are ready or not. I know for me, I was more than ready to turn the page to 2012.

The past year was one full of change, challenge, and unpredictability for me. It was a year filled with many tough decisions. I had to take risks in order to move forward, even when I wasn’t always sure of the outcome. Though I didn’t choose nor love all the circumstances that arose during the year, I definitely felt that they opened up deeper parts of myself. I realized that unless we have challenges brought to the surface in our lives, we never really get to tap into our entire potential. We don’t know what we are capable of unless we are stretched beyond what we think is possible. But possibilities and boundaries are limitless. When we can recognize that only our perceptions create limits, we can finally appreciate the depth of the sky.

When I thought of the year in that way, my perception of it shifted. Instead of saying “good riddence”, I thought “thank God” for some of the moments. Maybe the year ahead will be that much smoother, because I am better equipped to handle the curve balls – not to resist and dodge them all the time, but to actually lean into them, even if I don’t catch each one.

At the end of each year, I do a re-cap in my journal of my life in that particular year – the ups, the downs, experiences embarked upon, opportunities yet to be explored, and the resulting serendipitous events that occured in that year. Serendipity is defined as, “making fortunate discoveries by accident or while searching for other things”. If we believe that life is a series of experiences that we are always learning and growing from, then each event in our life can be viewed as serendipitous, can’t it? Perhaps, we don’t see the fortuitousness in it until later, but maybe every cloud does, in fact, have a silver lining.

Like the rest of you, I am excited for a fresh, new start in 2012. I’m not one to set resolutions, but I do try to create some vision in my mind for what I want to do, be, and have by the end of the year. If it’s love I’m trying to draw into my life, how can I give it? If it’s a marathon I want to complete, what steps can I take to feel healthy and prepared for it? If I know for sure what I don’t want in my life, how can I seek out opportunities for what I do want? If we all keep our hearts and eyes open, and not fear the curve balls, we will know that serendipitous events occur all the time throughout the year.

Deepali’s Piece of Wellness: Think about how the past year has prepared you for an even better year ahead. What tools do you have today, that you could only have obtained by your experiences from the past year? Where do you envision yourself at the end of 2012?