A gift of life

New Year's resolutions.  Isn't it odd that most of us go through this little ritual every January?  We sit and ponder what we need or want to do to improve our life in the coming year; we contemplate the failures and successes from the previous year and hope for the best . . . 

But usually by spring some, if not all, these resolutions seem to fall by the wayside, to drift away with the spring rains and melt entirely under the blaze of a summer sun.

So why do we do it?  Is it that sense of a clean start to the year, a tossing out of the old with the last blast of a party horn toot?  

Who knows.  Maybe it's in the DNA.  Or if we had grandmothers and nuns in our early lives, there was always that tradition of clearing out the kitchens, placing coins and salt and bread on the doorsteps to welcome good luck -- (I'm not really sure what the nuns did, but I'm sure they did something similar.  Fresh rosaries, perhaps?) --

So let me share some of mine with you.  I'm sure some may be familiar . . . 

1)  To stay focused.  Oh, this is a hard one, believe me.  The temptation to wander off the planned route is strong, at least for me.  My daily work life is so structured that my free time is exactly that -- free!  It doesn't matter that for more than five years I've been working on writing a mystery novel (actually there are about three more in the process) -- I also paint, knit, crochet, garden (that's a big one as I love to be outside in the spring/summer/fall in the garden), read, quilt, walk . . . so many things, so little time!

2) To spend more time with my family.  My children are grown, the youngest in his senior year of college; my husband works part-time but his schedule is almost the opposite of mine.  The daily life, Monday-Friday, just doesn't leave much time for anything else.  But a concerted effort is my resolve, whether it's simply going for a walk together or food shopping together -- to make the time is important.

And 3) is a familiar one for many -- to get health(ier), to eat healthier, to be gentle with oneself because today's world is no longer 24/7 but rather 72/7!  We pack so much in, thanks to technology, that it's a wonder we don't implode at some point -- or maybe some of us do?

Last week during a little break while waiting for folks to stop by I visited Leslie Avon Miller's blog, textures shapes and color.  Her entry from earlier in the year struck me in all it's simplicity and beauty (see it here) -- and the image you see below absolutely struck me dumb, yet seemed to capture the sensibility of what I was seeking . . . 

egg shell drawings by Leslie Avon Miller

Our lives are fragile things.  We should treat them as a gift that is ours to cherish each moment, each hour.  So easily we lose sight of that.   This image is going to be posted at my desk so that each working day, I am reminded of my resolutions, of this gift of my life.

What image would you choose?  Why not share --

Peace to all in 2014 --