Happy New Year!
Can you believe 2022 has arrived? The older I get, the more shocked I am when a new year arrives at our doorstep. Where did the last one go? How could 365 days feel like a blink? With each passing year, my desire to pull up the flaps on time to slow its airspeed increases. After the two years we have all had, I am more aware than ever how precious and fleeting life is.
As the calendar turned to January, I took stock and began to evaluate what I hoped to change in 2022. A book I read some time ago by Jon Gordon, called One Word, encourages its readers to pick a single-word theme for the upcoming year instead of burdensome resolutions. I took his advice, and I have loved the impact I have seen. I wanted to share with you my focus word for the next twelve months. Perhaps by doing so, I would inspire you to pick one for yourselves.
Without further ado, 2022 is officially the year of LESS.
Less stress-causing decisions. Less time-sucking yet empty activities. Less inefficiency. Less worry for things I can’t control. Less things for that matter!
I am energized by the hope that life may slow down if I scale back, if I step out from the swirl of busyness and the pressure to be more, do more and have more. I want to see what it looks like to unhook from the frenzy that our lives have become and unplug from the mountain of distressing information at our fingertips. (Literally!)
And by doing so, I believe that LESS will translate to MORE – more of the good stuff: quality time with family and friends, impactful interactions with the world around me, peaceful hours, better work product, easier laughter, a lighter heart. I want to enrich my days with meaning, connection and in-the-moment presence, making room for greater mental, physical, and relational health.
Robert Browning wrote a powerful poem entitled The Faultless Painter in which he exalts the concept that less is more and then describes folks who choose this way of life:
“Their works drop groundward, but themselves, I know, reach many a time a heaven that’s shut to me, enter and take their place there sure enough.”
Robert Browning – The Faultless Painter
What a powerful notion that by choosing LESS, we will experience a richness and a beauty here on earth that previously was unreachable. That excites me! Could it be true that by letting things drop from our lives, we can have moments where we transcend the ‘muddle through’ and touch real peace and experience times of pure joy? I hope so – and that hope motivates me!
So, what is your word for 2022? Join me in letting go of those heavy New Year’s resolutions and pick up a life-giving theme for your year instead. I hope you will find it uplifting and encouraging, and unlike all those failed resolutions, sustainable. To prime the pump, here are just a few ideas: Slow. Purpose. Freedom. Recovery. Simplify. Bloom. Thrive. Inspire. Believe.
And, as always, thank you for the continued trust and opportunity in allowing us to handle your legal and tax work and perhaps reducing your stress and lightening your load in the process. We sincerely wish you a year filled with MORE of the good stuff and LESS of everything else.
