Remember tonight… for it is the beginning of always. ~ Dante Alighieri

This time of year you read a lot of the same types of articles and posts. You get the whole best of, 10 most, etc… of the previous year. You get a lot of advice about how to set and stick to your new year resolutions. You can even find pieces that will give you ready made resolutions you can make for the year. I really don’t like any of those posts. 

So for my first weekly post as the year gets rolling I’m going to make a simple observation and wish you a good year.

The real beauty of the arbitrary reality of the new year starting, (because let’s face it, the start of the year depends on the calendar your using), is the fact that you get a chance to start over. Sure it’s arbitrary, you could start over on March 9th, but given we live on this calendar it does lend a psychological boost to moving forward.

The beauty of starting over is that you create an artificial clean slate. I love this idea, so what are you going to do with your clean slate? Me, I’m making a big transition over the next year, shortly after 2024 ends I’ll be retiring, leaving California and moving across the country and hopefully taking a second swing at thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. So this year is a lot about paring down of my life. Getting rid of possessions, organizing things, figuring out where I want to live, to store what little stuff I have left, etc… It will also mean ramping up my hiking training so that I’m back in thru-hiking shape. What I learned on my recent trip was that my aerobic fitness level is solid, I can tell I’ve been consistently in the gym. But my hiking shape is not where it will need to be, I could tell I’ve been spending too much time walking on flat ground and not pushing my quads. This year will also be all about celebrating my 60th birthday, that started in Nevada in December and will continue in February in New Orleans for Mardi Gras.

So I’m fully engaging in a new start, the next big chapter in my life. What will your new start be focused on? Whatever it is, go at it with a positive attitude. We know our attitude drives our perspective and our perspective very often drives our success, however we define it. Most importantly remember to have fun, to find time to do the things that make you happy and have more happy days my friends. ~ Rev Kane