The Compass Blog

In his classic memoir, Teewinot, a collection of stories and reflections on wilderness and living in a National Park, author and mountaineer Jack Turner describes his traditional annual acknowledgment of the New Year. Rather than accepting a new year as being marked by the turning of a calendar page, he recognizes the arrival of Spring – the return of vibrant color and active wildlife after a long, dormant winter – as being an occasion for welcoming a new annual cycle.
Many of us approach January 1 every year with a sense of obligation to reflect on the last 365 days, setting lofty goals for the next calendar cycle, resolving to advance, progress, improve. In a fairly predictable chain of events, most of us will lose track of our ambitious goals and resolutions, putting our own sense of accomplishment and ability through the wringer in the process.

As you walk into 2018, rather than lining out and piling up all the changes you expect to mark in your life over the next 12 months, consider resolving yourself to constant reinvention and perpetual beginning. Every moment can mark the start of a new cycle and represent a fresh opportunity – your own first day of Spring – whenever you’re ready to step into whatever new world you’re inclined to create.

Here’s to a new cycle of endless beginnings!

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All the best to you in the New Year!