Looking to the New Year
2016 has been getting a lot of flack as of lately. If you were to only look at your news feed it would seem like nothing good happened at all this year. The chief complaint being that of a loss of many beloved celebrities. Of course other events occurred that made people unhappy, so everyone took to social media to vent, to declare that this year must end because it only keeps getting worse.
However this year couldn't have been all bad. It just seems that we, as a society, tend not to look inwards at our own accomplishments anymore. This year I spent more time in the mountains than I have in any other previous year, I worked a job that actually goes hand in hand with my future career aspirations, I completed two more semesters of college, and got to spend many hours laughing with family and friends.
So despite the fact that many would choose only to see the bad, I choose to see the good. This was a year of growth, a year of challenge that I eagerly met head on. When we only focus on what could bring us down, we miss those small, irreplaceable moments of kindness and beauty. The sun rising over a range of snowcapped mountains or a shared smile with a stranger when you are the only two to notice a break in the clouds.
In 2017 I challenge each of you who read this post to hunt for those moments of beauty wherever you go, share them with others or keep them to yourself, it doesn't matter. People will notice how you focus on the good, and maybe follow your example. Our lives are short, fleeting. I spend a lot of time studying various plants, particularly trees. Some trees can live to be thousands of years old, we come and go, and they remain rooted to the same spot where they landed as a seed. While we may never see the impact of our actions, who knows what the trees will witness after we have gone. While your singular actions may seem small, they can set off a mighty chain of events. Will you cause a positive change, or a negative one? What sort of legacy will you choose to leave?
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| Sequoiadendron giganteum (the giant sequioa) can live for over 2,000 years |
So despite the fact that many would choose only to see the bad, I choose to see the good. This was a year of growth, a year of challenge that I eagerly met head on. When we only focus on what could bring us down, we miss those small, irreplaceable moments of kindness and beauty. The sun rising over a range of snowcapped mountains or a shared smile with a stranger when you are the only two to notice a break in the clouds.
In 2017 I challenge each of you who read this post to hunt for those moments of beauty wherever you go, share them with others or keep them to yourself, it doesn't matter. People will notice how you focus on the good, and maybe follow your example. Our lives are short, fleeting. I spend a lot of time studying various plants, particularly trees. Some trees can live to be thousands of years old, we come and go, and they remain rooted to the same spot where they landed as a seed. While we may never see the impact of our actions, who knows what the trees will witness after we have gone. While your singular actions may seem small, they can set off a mighty chain of events. Will you cause a positive change, or a negative one? What sort of legacy will you choose to leave?
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