Over the holidays, my family was able to enjoy time together playing cards and ping pong, working on a 1000 piece puzzle (it’s still not done!?!!) and watching movies. One movie we watched had been given a great recommendation. It was compared with a favourite movie of our family, “The Greatest Showman”. We saved it for the perfect viewing night and sat down, expecting to be wowed. We were sadly disappointed. The build up had led us to expect too much, and the movie fell flat for us.
As we move into a new year, many of us are excited to leave behind the challenges of 2020, starting fresh with renewed vision. “Great Expectations” is not just a book by Charles Dickens! Many of us experienced very difficult times this past year, and it is natural for us to look forward to a new day and a new year. Unfortunately, it is possible to put too much pressure on this calendar change, and then be disappointed when things aren’t completely different- much like we put too much pressure on our Christmas movie to be the best thing we’d ever seen.
I am all for goal setting, and dreaming for the new year. If you read my January blogs from the previous years, I have written a lot about goal setting, the Triad of Change, setting SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Reasonable, Time-Sensitive) and dreaming to create goals, that lead to plans that are implemented to form reality. I think we should still do that.
I would just offer a word of caution. Learn the lessons from 2020, focus on what has value and be patient. Things won’t change in a day, with a clock striking midnight and a virtual ball dropping in Times Square. Figure out how to find joy in the present situation, whatever it is. I know that seems easy to say, and I don’t know what challenges you are facing now. I’ve quoted this before, but I think it applies even more now, about so many areas of our lives.
Learn to find joy in the snow. If you choose not to find joy in the snow, you will have less joy in your life, but still have the same amount of snow.