Here We Go!

One, one, one-nine. And here we go again! When we last left you, yesterday, it was 2018. Today we wake to an all-together new year as well as an all-new opportunity. We have literally and figuratively turned the page. This is a not only a new chapter in our lives, but, possibly, a whole new book. 

I appreciate the continuity factor in seeing this as a fresh beginning in an on-going saga, the metaphor of closing one door and opening another, but it can, it should, hold some larger meaning. Larger, meaning in this usage, a direct reference to bigger goals, loftier dreams, deeper commitments, ideals holding additional purity and clarity, actions bolder and devotions both audacious, graceful and overflowing with rightful intention. All this with unmistakable vigor, gumption, truth and peace. 

Is that asking too much? Could it be worthy of our attention in creating an altogether new experience, one that could potentially shape the way the see the world - and reciprocally - the way the world sees us? A whole new chapter in an entirely new book? 

That, my dear friends, is where we find ourselves today. 

And I say - Let’s write that book! Or, as it is impossible to do it all at once, let us begin. Chapter One, Verse One. Once Upon a Time and Place. Together in the Here and Now. See Spot Run. Call Me Ishmael. In the Beginning. From the Top and for Those About to Rock: You are Good to Go. 

In his excellent and beautifully balanced book, Mind, Body and Sport, John Douillard proposes that there are three reasons why we exercise. And while I have recently shuffled the order of his three, they remain solid, legitimate and worthy of our consideration here on the day we traditionally use as the starting point for yearly resolutions. Consider John’s trio:

THREE REASONS WHY WE EXERCISE

1) Rejuvenate the body and cultivate the mind.

2) Manage Stress.

3) Develop Mind-Body coordination. 

What a great start! Additionally, if I might, I would like to add the statement that I normally use to follow these three. It is simply the fact, or perhaps it is merely my belief, that once we obtain this magical combination of rejuvenation, cultivation, calm and coordination, our spirits, the very soul of our beings, comes soaring into focus like a (holy) ghost asking to participate in this joyous experiment in enlightenment and transcendence. 

Sound like a good way to start? Sound like an interesting opening act? Something we could all get behind and help push our individual consciousness towards the goal of the greater good? Cool. 

‘Cause here we go. 

(Caution: It is a 7 percent grade.)