When New Year Gives You a Good Kick in The Ass
Goodbyes, hellos, restarts, and Alleluias ring loud for some as the calendar drops once more.
Days before Christmas can be filled with anticipation and joy for some but stressful and tiring for others.
But now, December 26, is it over? Some of you have another week or two off work with family outings, playing in the snow or a warm-weather vacation, or enjoying the slowdown of responsibilities. Others have a heightened realization about the week before New Year’s. It lands heavy with the weighing of options, decisions on filling a void or leaving a hole, moving out, moving up, or moving on, giving in, giving up, or giving it your all.
You don’t have to believe in New Year’s resolutions. I don’t make decisions based on waiting for a day on the calendar. If nothing else moves your mind or motivates your progress, then make that countdown determinedly count.
Did the year end something by choice or by force?
The current workforce and supposed but non-existent stability have taken such a beating we should all be wearing armor by now. Did you barely miss the layoffs or get handed a holiday gray hair to go with that parting smile, “Thank you for your exemplary service, but…”
You may have been searching for the correct time to switch careers or start your own business. How long has it been since you worked on a resume, collected, and honestly contacted your references with updates?
One of my favorite resumes I created was by typing newspaper ads based on my passions, accomplishments, and projects in development. I printed one page out, cut out each blurb separately, and glued them on another piece of paper, which I photocopied. Then, I would use liquid white-out to “erase” the lines around all my cut blurbs and photocopy that page. I would repeat with any other artistic additions to my page until I was satisfied and smudge-free.
Seriously?! YES, SERIOUSLY!!!
Why?! Well, yes, I am older than this generation. This pre-dates the evolution of sophisticated programs to drag and drop, basic templates, and my knowledge of anything besides the typewriter, elementary school computer literacy, and the first introductions to Word Processing. I still recall nightmares of screaming at the top of my lungs after pressing a button, apparently the wrong one, and staring at a blank screen instead of my 10-page school paper, “Where did it go?! NOOOOOooooo!” I was not asleep, and of course, I retyped it all over from my handwritten notes trying to remember my last-minute mental changes that were lost, too.
I thrived on the actual hands-on, focused detail of my archaic resume. Still, the process did torture my perfectionistic self-inflicted punishing eye. Today, I can get lost in the most straightforward computer instructions, which my mind sees as utter gibberish meant to side-line every attempt to complete a task when I dare open my computer.
Ah, New Year means new inventions! Thrill and excitement for some, a toast with damming expletives for the next generation of electronics for others. Cheers!
Who do you want to be?
Do you search the online job boards hoping your life’s purpose jumps out at you, or do you believe in you know it when you see it philosophy?
Does it feel like unless you make a change, you won’t make as much of a difference in the lives of others, let alone yourself? If you are in a field of service but acting out the motions, has your story changed? Those needing help are still in need, so don’t discount your current choices. If it isn’t your career that requires the shake-up, is it your perspective? Have you heard the voices personally of those you have helped? It’s surprising but true how others’ lives can be affected by the everyday acts of a single person doing their job or even in the absence of having a job.
Remember, your job is not who you are. Even when you force every cell in you to live and breathe the functions, you perform each day, “I” write my life story that carries me in and out of my day, my interactions with the world and people around me, as do “you.”
I am what I believe and value, how I think and reflect, how I give and accept, and how I grieve, laugh, and love. I am me.
Do you choose to close or carry on?
When you finish and close a book, some people run to the bookstore and pick out their next one or have a stack delivered, waiting already at home.
Others feel the finality of its end, chapters before it’s come to a close. Then they sit with it, wondering if it taught them anything or gave them enough memories to cherish before they delve into the next story. Do you take a break before committing more time and faith into the next one? So, you carry on where you are, thinking about the unknown possibilities beyond your empty shelves collecting dust.
You may be content, or so you’re told, but would you like to see for yourself? What pages open to another world of adventure, heroic sacrifice, laughter to lift the grey, or strike a match lighting untold storylines left unwritten?
Pick the one for you, and choose your own adventure. This life has one for you, too.
Moving your heart with passion or purpose can be just as thrill-seeking as jumping out of an airplane or relocating across the country.
Celebrate good times, C’mon!
Goodbye, 2022. Whether it changed your view on good and evil in the world or gave you hope that history is not repeating itself, it will soon be the past.
Hello, New Year! I don’t need to know the future or have an outline to decide it’s worth discovering. Can’t wait to write your 2023 story?!
If you enjoy reading stories like these and want to support me as a writer, consider signing up to become a Medium member. It’s only $5 a month, giving you unlimited access to all stories on Medium without ads. If you sign up using my link, I’ll earn a small commission.
