Yare yare (pronounced YAH-ray YAH-ray)!
That's Japanese for something like "thank god that's over."
It's 2021, and the global collective sigh of relief is palpable.
We talked about resolutions last year; I still like them, I think they represent our better selves, the selves we hope to become.
But they're hard to pull off.
This year I'm thinking of them as a kind of spectrum; even if you hit 60 or 70 percent, that's good!
And with that in mind, maybe it's worth trying an experiment. Don't we all want to be happier, more resilient, stronger?
Here are my top three ways to get there:
- Be on your own side -- no one can be a better friend to yourself than you. Forgive. Move forward, and stay in the moment.
- Absorb the good -- there is so much beauty around us. Kind acts and words, natural beauty in unlikely spots, small windfalls, wishing people well.
- Watch your negative moods and name them -- simply being aware that we're feeling irritated or shameful, and fully facing them, makes them much less powerful.
And above all: let's try to remember how brief this all is.
No matter how you look at it, our time here is limited. Remembering this throughout the day -- making a point of remembering it -- lends poignancy and meaning to the only time that really counts: this moment. This awareness helps us be a better friend, spouse, parent, colleague, and fellow human being.
We can of course begin again at any moment, but there is something nice about beginning again as the year opens.
