Happy New Year
by Martha Randolph Carr - Comment on the column

New Year's resolutions are all about throwing ourselves into the = future, which can ruin the present moment. We are encouraged to draw up a list = of everything we don't like about ourselves and resolve to fix them all, = all at once.

Some of us spend the entire holiday season looking ahead imagining = a better version of ourselves. We long for the moment when we will = finally feel like we're enough and can truly celebrate a new beginning. Years go by = with the same recycled list of resolutions.

The first day of 2009 may cause quite a few of us to reflect on our economic past as well. Divorce lawyers report that the number of new = clients peaks just before the New Year and many of us put on an extra ten = pounds right around the middle. There is a great temptation to wonder what we = could have done differently to insure that safe and happy future we can picture = but we just don't seem to be able to grasp. Enough of the whining = already.

The truth is we only have the day we've been given and it's full of = every possibility. But in order to enjoy the gift of this moment we have to = be willing to rejoice in who we are right now and just = start.

That requires a new vision of ourselves as beautiful and capable, = friendly and giving and able to forgive and show compassion. To see that shiny = new self many of us will have to let go of the need to be right and a = constant one-upmanship that has no end. A lot of old baggage has to be left at = the curb and along with it an acknowledgment that we're okay even if we = never get that apology.

This year we can start out by giving ourselves an enormous gift of = a blank slate. We can then start day one by coming up with ... READ MORE



OUR NEW BOOK IS = OUT!

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