All Aboard 2014!

Wow, can you believe it? We have entered 2014 full force and time is already starting to fly by. What is amazing about time is that it simply continues, regardless of how ready you are for it to move on, regardless of how much you are enjoying the present moment or not, time. always. moves. on. It's beautiful really, because if time stayed still for even a moment, we'd have to live through the most unpleasant moments as well as the good for that much longer. Human psyche tends to dwell in the negative unless we, ourselves make a more cautious effort to focus on the positive. Yet, that is a completely different topic, with much under its belt, maybe better to save for a later post...

Yet, here we are, January of 2014. How many times have you had to hit the backspace, erase, or cross out when you write the date? That always seems like the hardest adjustment. After 365 days of writing 2013, we are all of a sudden expected to write 2014 just as easily. It's rather difficult to switch from one to the other, yet exciting as well. Why is that? Why is it so exciting to move from 2013 to 2014 and being able to write it down on paper? I suppose it is due to the fact that we are constantly searching for the next best thing to happen. A good friend of mine is known to be one who always plots the next big thing in his mind. This man is brilliant, he has a heart of gold and tends to notice all that surrounds him. Yet as a silent planner, he too is in search for the next big thing to happen...aren't we all?

As 2013 came to an end, I asked myself what I expected from 2014. Every year we hear about making a better you in the new year, becoming healthier and happier, making new year resolutions with a set plan...making this year better than the last. But then I thought a little further and realized that how can I top 2013? This was my golden year, the year I finished my student teaching, got a long-term substitute job, GOT MARRIED, went on an amazing honeymoon, witnessed the marriage of many friends and family, and it goes on and on. I don't want to top that, I want to add on to that. This new year isn't about making it better than last year, it's about continuing the excitement and happiness of 2013 in 2014. This too is challenging because sometimes we become complacent and content with how things are going. It's okay to want to better yourself and become a better you, but it's always important to do it on your own terms, not ones determined by others.

With that said, I don't really believe in resolutions, I hate when I set them but can't live up to them. But I do enjoy setting goals and using these goals to better my experiences in 2014. While we rang in the new year with family, I began thinking of ways to make my 2014 live up to the amazing moments of 2013. Here are the goals, I came up with:

• Take time out to become the reader I have always dreamed of becoming. Reading is so important to me, not because I am a teacher, but because it is a way to keep your mind young and a way to decompress when you are overwhelmed by everything around you. 
• Become more spiritual. So that my new life as a wife and teacher matches with my personal beliefs and a continued feeling of harmony amongst all of the various facets of my life. Spirituality, satsang, is so important to maintain. When we enter new stages of our lives, we have to find a way to harmonize all aspects of our lives and align them with what is important to us. Sometimes this is harder than you would expect it to be, but this journey is extremely important, one you definitely have to take time out to enjoy and understand. 
• Become a teacher. While this year has been a blessing, I crave my own classroom and having students to call my own. This is a goal I hope to achieve gracefully this year. As everything begins to fall into place in my life, this is the one aspect that would help all of my dreams come true. 
• Be grateful. I want to appreciate all that surrounds me, it's that simple, really. 
• Live in the moment. Instead of always thinking of what will happen next, I want to be happy now, in this moment. 

So, as you begin 2014, what do you hope for? How do you plan to achieve a better you? Happy hunting, for so much lies in your favor if your intentions are genuine and your goals are achievable.