Speaking From The Heart

January 2012

As we turn the page from 2011 to 2012 and gaze upon the pristine unwritten sheet of paper before us, we have the opportunity to reflect back upon the past year as we also think about the new one before us. Reflection and awareness begin with some questions - What is important to me? What have I learned from my experiences this year? How do I see myself in the year ahead? Who do I want to surround myself with? What do I still want to learn?

With the holiday gifts unwrapped and scattered about, and only morsels of holiday cookies left remaining in the decorative tins, we are left with the memories created when friends and family join together in a shared space and time. When we peel away the bright lights and noise of the holidays, we experience the tug of our changing, evolving and growing relationships with those people whom we care the most about. There are those relationships that taste of the purity and sweetness of new children born into the family providing a new generation to share ideas, values and experiences with. There are those changing relationships with adult children that elicit smiles and laughter, spasms of frustration and annoyance, and deep conversations that involve plans for the future. There is a sense of grace and joy as we reach out to nurture our kinships and friendships. We learn to believe in ourselves and to accept others as they are and not as we wish them to be.

Relationships are about connections - and the reaching for open, honest and sincere communication with an agreement to listen and compromise. We need to call upon our inner resources of strength, courage, compassion and understanding which we use during both tender and difficult moments. With a heart that listens and a hand that reaches out with warmth we can bridge any uncertainty, conflict or pain. When we have no words….we have hugs. When there are no easy answers……there is unconditional support. When goodness and love flourish, we all share in that joy.

Life is an adventure awaiting our immersion. Allow 2012 to open new doors of involvement. Leave your fears and regrets at the threshold and enter this new year with a promise of discovery. The limitations imposed by an aging body are only challenges to reinvent yourself with a passion to live an engaged and full life. Let us go together, hand in hand and heart to heart into this new year and commit to creating memories that will warm our hearts and souls into tomorrow.

With Love from Marian Lewek