January Diary article by Christina Rees

At Last! I’ve figured out how to make my life work, how I can get caught up with all the things on my ‘To Do’ list and how to make headway with my plans and projects in preparation for the New Year. It’s simple! All I need is an extra month neatly positioned between 31st December and 1st January. Maybe such a month already exists in anti-matter or in one of those parallel universes scientists are always telling us about. It really would solve lots of problems.

If only! If only we had access to more time, the type of time we could use just as we liked; time without any interruptions, commitments or distractions, but we know that we are all given the same number of hours in the day and that, whatever our age or stage in life, we all have responsibilities and calls on our time.

Every 1st January I choose a verse or passage from the Bible as a guiding theme to begin the New Year. I base my choice on what I think I need to concentrate on or learn more about, or perhaps something to inspire me to pursue my goals with greater dedication and diligence.

This year, because of feeling so ‘behind’ with things, I think I’ll try to find a verse that will help to keep me on track, especially when outside influences press in on me and threaten to deflect or derail me from the path I believe I am called to follow. However, I will also try to remember that part of living is to be open to divine interruptions, serendipitous happenstances and unexpected events. My well-intentioned discipline needs to be tempered with the acknowledgement that I will most certainly end up taking detours – detours that may be still be on the path, if only I could see things from a different perspective. So my New Year’s wish for myself, and for you, is that you will be able to accomplish the things that are truly most important – and that along the way you will also take time to dance, explore, get lost – and, above all, enjoy the people and places you encounter as you walk along your path!

Christina Rees