Gearing Up

It’s New Year’s Eve and 2010 is upon us. I’m curious if anyone’s “gearing up” for the New Year…or maybe people are “gearing down” from 2009. It’s an interesting idea — “gearing up” versus “gearing down”. Jerry Seinfeld has a wonderful way of expressing the difference:

” “Wait up!” That’s what kids say. They don’t say “wait”, they say “Wait up! Hey, wait up!” ‘Cause when you’re little, your life is up. The future is up. Everything you want is up. “Wait up! Hold up! Shut up! Mom, I’ll clean up! Let me stay up!”…Parents of course are just the opposite. Everything is down. “Just calm down. Slow down. Come down here. Sit down. Put that down.”” (I’m Telling You for the Last Time)

So are you a “down” or an “up”? Are you just waiting to relax and simmer down, or are you revving up to embrace the new year? Maybe you’re doing a little bit of both! Perhaps a part of you is just ready for 2009 to be over, and you’re hopeful about what 2010 has in store. Or maybe you’re really sad 2009 is ending, and you’re thinking that 2010 can’t possibly measure up to ’09. Whatever the case may be, the fact of the matter is that your life is in front of you!

Life is filled with endings and beginnings. And tonight is just that — an ending of one calender year and the beginning of the next. If you start feeling a bit melancholy tonight thinking about the past, that’s okay. Embrace the sadness, and let yourself feel it! Then look at the people around you and the possibility of an incredible future in front of you, and be grateful! Tonight you are symbolically letting go of everything you’ve done  up until this point and stepping in to the unknown. Remember, tonight is a celebration of who you are and who you want to one day be. As you look at all your loved ones tonight, know that you can also choose to see them for the magnificent, generous individuals they will one day be. We are all growing. Tonight choose to see the glorious future in everyone around you. Because when you see it in others, you uncounsciously see it in yourself. And cheer up because your life is up — your future is up — and even if you get all worked up, you can get dressed up, throw your hands up and live it up! Happy New Year!!!