Updated 14-Sep-2023
Ah yes, the end of a year and beginning of another. A time to reflect, etc., etc. Well, this year much was accomplished and much was not. Travel, and home life improved. Finances declined. Struggle with workouts, fits and starts.
For those not in Cambodia, Laos or Thailand, 2558 is the Buddhist Era (BE) date, which is 543 years ahead of the Common Era calendar.
Not much more to say than I've got a plan, and we'll see how that goes. Things are clearer, and there is less to focus on (which is better than more). Sorry to be so quixotic but some of these plans cannot be discussed or announced just yet. Let's just say that the coming year will be one of change (or not), but hopefully of the good kind.
Themes and Outcomes
There are a few themes that can echo across the coming year, including:
- Health, Wealth, Wisdom
- It is a New Year
- Patience
The problem with the third item is that patience can get in the way of the newness and possibilities of a new year, as well as the improvements to health, wealth and wisdom, which are the desired outcomes. But patience in terms of applied action over time -- patience in the micro, as opposed to patience with the macro, the big picture, a kind of quietism -- that can be salutory.
What to Stop Doing
With thanks to Peter Drucker, we can start with what we should stop doing (and by we, I mean me). There is one false friend I want to address head on, that of fiend alcohol. I see little in redeeming quality and much of a negative impact, including:
- Alcohol costs money
- Alcohol takes time, time to drink and time to be drunk
- Alcohol has a negative effect on the body
- Alcohol induces poor judgment
In sum, alcohol is a negative influence on the desired outcomes for the new year (that is, an increase in health, wealth and wisdom). Therefore I propose to not keep company with this wastrel in 2015.
What to Start Doing
This one is fairly simple, but it comes into two parts, the body and the mind. That is, with what to occupy the body, and with what to occupy the mind. This is all about time and time allocation.
Therefore, more time spent on the workouts (body), and more time spent on the publishing company (mind), to truly bring it into its own potential in 2015. Reading, Writing and Working out. Simple, simple.
In Sum
Last year I closed with a poem by Frost, and so here is another.
Canis Major
by Robert Frost
The great Overdog
That heavenly beast
With a star in one eye
Gives a leap in the east.
He dances upright
All the way to the west
And never once drops
On his forefeet to rest.
I'm a poor underdog,
But to-night I will bark
With the great Overdog
That romps through the dark.